


A New Home

by Rain1701



Series: Dance of the Ice Dragoness [1]
Category: Bleach, Naruto
Genre: Female Hitsugaya Toushirou, Female Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama, Friendship and Family bonds only for now, Gen, Genderfluid Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura Bashing, I don't like their early personalities, Smart Uzumaki Naruto, Sneaky Toushirou, Toushirou and Naruto are best friends, Toushirou in Naruto 'verse, Uchiha Sasuke Bashing, at least for a little while
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-05 02:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 37,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6684976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rain1701/pseuds/Rain1701
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an effort to save her life and freedom, Hitsugaya Toshiro winds up landing head-first in the Naruto universe two months before the start of canon. Not much stays the same after that.</p><p>• • •</p><p>Or: Toshiro wonders why she signed up for all of this, Naruto gets a new friend, people start getting a clue, and Toshiro is so done with politics.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "Thought" – Human speech  
> " _Thought_ " – Human thoughts  
> "Thought" – Zanpakto/Demon speech  
> " _Thought_ " – Zanpakto/Demon link speech  
> " **Thought no Jutsu!** " – Jutsu names

The air around one Hitsugaya Toshiro, Third Seat of the Tenth Division, was frigid as she used shunpo to travel over the streets of Seireitei. Many chalked the incident off to the Tenth Division Captain, who was like a father figure to the small Shinigami, disappearing, most likely dead from a Hollow attack. And they would be correct– in part. The loss of Shiba Isshin was hitting the young Shinigami hard, yes, however there was another reason why she rushed to get back to her room in the Tenth Division barracks in the false dawn of early morning.

The little Third Seat just lost her last shield from the Royal Family.

Shiba-taicho had kept knowledge of Toshiro’s true gender a secret, shielding her from attention ever since she joined his division. No one knew prior due to her fairly androgynous features, stunted growth, and overall young age and slow physical maturation. But he wasn’t here anymore, more than likely dead, and the Royal Family was bound to turn their gaze toward the young dragoness sooner or later. And that wasn’t something she was going to allow, much less her grandfather-figure, Yamamoto-soutaicho. Luckily, the soutaicho could be sneaky when he wanted to be, and gave her the unofficial order to flee somewhere Seireitei or the Royal Family had no domain over, and thus could not easily find her without going to war first, years ago. Officially, she was going to flee her post and disappear, with no connections to Yamamoto-soutaicho telling her more beyond her taicho’s death and her waiting Captain’s test that morning.

Not like she was going to stick around that long. There was no way she was going to allow the Royal Family to even catch a whiff of her reiatsu.

Toshiro ducked into her room and hunted down a bag, Hyorinmaru humming dangerously in his sheath on her back. She quickly began packing anything she wished to take with her, some of her off-duty clothes at the bottom of the bag, with various objects that may hold some monetary worth wherever she wound up packed in and amongst them. She stood and changed out of her uniform, replacing it with a plain black sleeveless mandarin-collared dress that ended just above her knees and had slits up to her thighs to allow maneuverability. Under them, she slid on close-fitting black shorts that ended halfway down her thighs. She slid half-finger black gloves that ended at her forearms on before shoving her feet into black boots that ended just below her knees. An ice blue scarf was pulled out from the depths of her closet, the only girly thing she allowed herself to wear on a regular basis, and tied around her waist like an obi, the loops and ends dangling low. Toshiro deftly slid her blade into a secured position in the makeshift obi, and checked to make sure the marks of her four limiters were covered by her dress. Once assured that they were, she grabbed the bag, shoved the chain Hyorinmaru normally was held by inside it, and strode purposefully out from the room without a backwards glance.

She looked down the hallway towards Matsumoto’s room, where she could hear the drunken sobs from her doorway, before shaking her head and stealthily slipped out of the building. No, Toshiro couldn’t tell the woman who saved her life and became a sister-figure that she was leaving. As much as she hated causing Matsumoto even more pain, there was no way Toshiro was dragging the older woman into this. Instead, she zipped out of Seireitei, tamping her reiatsu down to nothing and slipping over the walls separating the Rukongai from the Gotei 13 easily. Now to get to the backdoor Shiba-taicho had set up for her in case this situation ever came to pass…

• • •

If Toshiro weren’t sure that Shiba-taicho was dead, she’d be swearing to kill him right about now. She got to the dimension-hopping Senkaimon just fine, no problems. It worked just like she’d been told it would… with the minor exception of the location upon which it would spit her out. Then again, she’d never thought to ask for the specifics of where she’d end up. Looking back now, though, maybe she should have. Clearly, her relief of its presence overshadowed the logic of knowing where in this plane of existence she’d be dropped.

She was fairly certain that arriving in what clearly was a military leader’s office in the very early morning from a disappearing door counted as something she should have known, you know, _before_ she used the damn thing!

Thus, it was only due to her extensive training in the Seireitei, and her own immense willpower, that caused her not to flinch when a tanto was pressed against her throat from behind. She kept her face stony and cold as she stared at the elder gentleman who reminded her of Yamamoto-soutaicho from the fire in his eyes that sat behind the desk she just stumbled in front of. She carefully watched as his hands flashed through some odd signs, before a wave of reiatsu, or something eerily similar, flared around the room. “Who are you and how did you get in here?” the old man asked, no, demanded. Which was within his right, considering the circumstances. She did just appear from practically nowhere. It was quite evident that Shiba-taicho, or whoever had built the Senkaimon, had not gotten permission or given warning to the old man that his office was going to be used as the drop point, or maybe taicho just didn’t know where exactly it would drop her and thus couldn’t give warning.

Toshiro raised an eyebrow, and figured that she should answer his questions as well as she could. “Hitsugaya Toshiro. I am a refugee, of sorts, hoping to find sanctuary that was compromised back home. As to how I got here, truth be told, I had no idea where I would land. I swear I hold no ill will with my presence here.”

“If you were a refugee, you’d have come through the main village gates, not appear here as you have,” the old man bit out, his eyes glittering dangerously now.

“Hokage-sama,” a man with silver hair and a dog-painted white mask said as he jumped down from the ledge he was hiding on. Toshiro tensed and performed a quick scan of the various reiatsu signatures. Not Hollows, but clearly they wore masks similar enough to almost give her pause. The old man gestured for him to continue speaking. The masked man bowed his head in deference before continuing, “She appears to be speaking the truth, though her chakra is reacting very strangely. I’m fairly certain Ibiki would appreciate having a new prisoner to interrogate.”

Toshiro’s eyes narrowed as the temperature of the room dropped drastically. That got everyone’s attention back on her. She calmly said, “I just left a place where I would have been kidnapped and raped for something I hold no control over. I was hoping that I would not wind up in a similar situation.” Despite her calm demeanor, it was quite clear that Toshiro was beyond pissed, especially as the temperature just continued to drop to the point that frost was growing on the windows. “I am here for sanctuary, with no way of knowing where exactly I would end up. For what purpose would I lie?” Hyorinmaru growled dangerously in the back of her mind, her blade buzzing in a show of his anger.

She ignored the stares she was getting from the masked men around the office, instead keeping her emerald gaze pinned on this Hokage person, who seemed to have paled from her small speech instead of the temperature. He leaned forward and folded his hands together on top of his desk. “As compelling as your story may be, Hitsugaya-san, I do not know you, nor do I trust you. Cease this jutsu and go with my ANBU quietly, and if your story is confirmed by T&I I shall contemplate your situation. Hound, Tori, escort Hitsugaya to Ibiki and tell Inoichi to remain on standby.”

Toshiro closed her eyes and breathed slowly, chaining her anger deep within her heart. The only thing she could do was acquiesce to the old man’s demands for now. There was no way that Shiba-taicho would willingly put her in another dangerous situation. She just had to trust his judgment of this dimension. Unless he didn’t know anything about this dimension before sending her off to it, beyond that it was the closest to theirs that had similar abilities, but Toshiro resolved to not think about that possibility just yet. Almost immediately, the room began to warm up, the frost receding as if it were never there. She could all but hear the nearly imperceptible sigh of relief from all corners of the room as the temperature returned to normal.

The tanto left her neck, and then she felt as if she was falling. Darkness swallowed her in seconds; the sound of Hyorinmaru’s roar echoing in her ears.

• • •

Hound could admit that he’d seen a lot of things in his twenty-six years of life, but watching as the small slip of a white-haired girl stumbled after being hit with his sleep genjutsu, only for previously green eyes to open as a shade of red only seen in the Sharingan—minus the black tomoe—was new. Hitsugaya snarled, her canines appearing to have lengthened, and glared at Hound. She almost appeared feral, as if a dangerous beast lurked just below the surface of her tan skin. Her voice even sounded different, deeper and gravellier than the almost musical cold tones from earlier, as she said, “There was no need to knock the hime out, Hound.” He tilted his head to the side, not understanding why she spoke as if she were a different person. On top of that, it didn’t appear as if the genjutsu worked, so what was she speaking of? Hitsugaya then snorted and commented, “Toshiro did fall to whatever you did. But,” she bared her teeth, “she’s not the only one in her soul. I will go quietly, but attempt that again and you shall learn why dragons are so feared.”

Hound considered the girl, the defensive posture and different mannerisms from earlier, along with the chill in the air that returned from moments before. Either she was a jinchuuriki, had multiple personalities, or was something else, but her odd chakra didn’t feel like the Kyuubi’s did, and multiple personalities didn’t sound likely either since that wouldn’t counter the genjutsu. He slowly nodded, before leading the way out of the office, Hitsugaya between Hound and Tori.

This was bound to be interesting. Hound almost felt sorry for Ibiki and Inoichi.

• • •

Toshiro blinked her eyes and found herself sitting in a blank stone room, at one side of a metal table facing a mirrored window. Silently, she sighed. “ _Thank you, Hyorinmaru_ ,” she thought.

Her zanpaktō hummed. “ _You are welcome, Little One. You are in one of their interrogation chambers underground, though where I do not know, and have been stripped of your belongings and my physical form. Due to my intervention, I believe they think you have something akin to multiple personalities._ ”

Toshiro nearly snorted at that. “ _Well, in a way that’s true. I never thought you could take over like that._ ”

“ _While possible, I do not like doing so, Little One_ ,” Hyorinmaru said, settling comfortably into the snow of his master’s Inner World.

Toshiro closed her eyes and stretched her senses out, feeling out several reiatsu’s clustered together in a room on the other side of the window. A flash of annoyance scorched through her veins at the spying, before she pushed it down alongside her anger. Neither emotion would do her well in an interrogation. She took several meditative breaths to center herself, and could not stop the quirk of an eyebrow as one of the reiatsu signatures broke away from the cluster and moved towards the door to the room she found herself in. Lazily, Toshiro opened her eyes and rolled her head towards the door seconds before it opened, looking for all intents and purposes like a bored, blank-faced dragon when the heavily scarred man entered. Said man just raised an eyebrow, not appearing fazed by how she was gazing his way as if she already knew he was coming, and moved to the seat opposite Toshiro. The white-haired Shinigami kept her gaze locked on his as he sat down.

Silence reined for several minutes as the two regarded each other. Toshiro figured she would be correct in guessing that this was the Ibiki person that she had been sent to by the Hokage person, who if she was sensing things correctly was one of the people watching. The silver-haired masked man that had been called Hound was also watching from a corner of the room itself, along with various others who probably had similar masks as well. Well, at least they weren’t all clustered together like they were earlier.

Finally, Ibiki leaned forward and began his questioning. Simple things, like her name, age, and the like, but others appeared to be random off-the-wall questions. However, he apparently underestimated her thanks to her apparent age of somewhere around ten or eleven (at least, last Unohana-taicho checked that was her physical age). Toshiro knew that, if she had deemed to answer any of his questions, he would have found a number of discrepancies if she were from this dimension. Of course, she kept quiet throughout the questioning, blinking lazily every two questions asked. That didn’t seem to deter Ibiki, though, who just kept asking questions, beginning to cycle back through previous ones.

And then he asked about Hyorinmaru’s blade, and pulled it out of what looked like a scroll with some sort of seal on it.

The room instantly turned frigid, their breath visible in the cold air. Frost began forming on the table near Toshiro, who was glaring her jade-toned eyes at Ibiki like she could bore holes into his skull. In return, Ibiki looked particularly smug about finding her sole weak point, and proceeded to say, “Ah, a little touchy about it. I can understand, this is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Family heirloom, perhaps?”

Toshiro snarled wordlessly, watching as he placed a hand a hairs length from the indigo sheath. “What do you want?” she growled, knowing that he had the upper hand as long as he had her blade. If he threatened Hyorinmaru…

“You to answer my questions,” he said plainly, as if he wasn’t fazed by the artic temperatures. And from just a glance at him, he probably wasn’t. “Otherwise I’d hate for something to happen to this beautiful katana you have–“

Before Toshiro could snap out a retort, the blade buzzed ominously as Ibiki moved to touch the sheath. He glanced down, apparently shocked that Hyorinmaru could do that. A nasty grin crossed Toshiro’s lips, and she leaned back in her seat. “Oh, now you pissed him off,” she all but cooed.

Ibiki cut a look to her. “Him?”

Her grin widened. “Yeah, him,” she nodded towards the still-buzzing katana. “He doesn’t exactly like it when people make threats, especially towards me.”

“Your sword has , what, a consciousness? Is that what you’re getting at here?” Ibiki deadpanned, clearly not believing a word of what he was saying. Toshiro felt an almost childish delight race through her veins.

“Actually, that’s almost exactly it. He’s as much a part of me as I’m a part of him,” she said, keeping her voice purposefully bright even as a dangerous glint flashed in her cool jade eyes. “So don’t even think about fondling him.”

Ibiki stared at her for a minute, before he sighed and made some sort of gesture. That appeared to be the cue for whoever that Inoichi person was, if she could correctly guess who the owner of the purple-tinged reiatsu was. She blinked when a pale-blonde male with his hair kept in a high ponytail entered the room and switched places with Ibiki, who moved to lean against the wall next to the mirrored window. The blonde gave Toshiro what might have been a pleasant smile if the situation were different. Instead, it reminded her more of Unohana-taicho’s terrifying smile she used to quell members of the Eleventh Division. And herself, scarily enough.

Before she could otherwise react, he flashed through some hand signs and whipped his reiatsu towards her. “ **Shitenshin no Jutsu!** ”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inoichi certainly had never expected this mess when he was given the signal to enter Hitsugaya's mind.
> 
> Especially the dragon. That, was terrifying.
> 
> So was the whole "dead" and "Shinigami" thing.

Inoichi blinked his eyes as he stared out across a wintery field, the falling snow making it difficult to see much beyond a few feet all around him easily. He turned around in a circle, his jaw feeling as if it were on the ground it was hanging open so widely. “How– This is not like any mindscape I’ve seen before,” he whispered to himself, shivering at the artic temperatures.

A low growl rumbled through the air, raising goose bumps from the sound alone. Inoichi spun around, and his jaw was back on the ground as he stared up at the ginormous ice dragon loomed over him, glaring down with its red eyes. “How did you get in here?” the dragon growled, low and menacing.

Inoichi gulped and tried to stutter out an answer, but almost found himself frozen in fear. That tiny little girl had this in her mind?!

The dragon snarled, and roared out, “State the purpose for this intrusion or leave, human!”

Inoichi finally gathered himself enough to say, “I, ah, I’m just here to, to look through her memories, try and see why she’s here. The mind cannot lie as easily as the mouth can.”

The dragon glared at him, before growling again and breathing ice fire down on a patch of ground near Inoichi. He shielded his face from the blast, and once it was over glanced towards the area to see a door made of ice standing there. “Get out of my sight before I decide to kick you out for your impertinence,” the dragon grumbled. Inoichi gave a shaky bow towards the dragon, before all but scrambling towards the door.

Well. He’d never experienced something like that before.

Once he closed the door behind him, Inoichi took a few seconds to breath and calm down from what might have been a near-death experience. And he thought looking through Hatake’s mind was a dangerous task, at least the damn brat didn’t have a blasted dragon guarding his mind. No wonder the genjutsu didn’t work on Hitsugaya!

He glanced around, and blinked as he realized that he stood at the entrance to a large, pure white library. Inoichi glanced back towards the door, and then took a couple steps away from it, testing his balance on shaky legs. Acceptable. He focused once more on the rows of bookshelves standing before him, again reminded of the few times he’d had to go into Hatake’s mind. The organization was similar enough, though the sheer amount of knowledge and memories before him now made Hatake’s own substantial amount appear miniscule. How did she know so much, experience this much life, when she barely looked nine years old?!

As if summoned, Hitsugaya walked out from one of the rows of bookshelves, holding a white tome in her hands, and stopped, staring at Inoichi. “What are you doing here? How’d you get past Hyorinmaru?!” she asked, eyes turning into flinty emeralds.

“He let me through. No, listen,” he said, quickly cutting off what had to be an angry retort, “Ibiki will have my head if I don’t find something that he can believe. I doubt telling him you have a terrifying dragon in your mind would be believable.”

Hitsugaya stared at him for a few minutes, a slow grin crossing her lips as she did. “So you want, what, knowledge? Memories?”

Inoichi tilted his head to the side. “Memories, preferably.”

Her laughter was sharp and sarcastic, her grin wicked as she threw her arms to her sides, the tome floating back down the row she stood in front of. “Well, good luck finding what you’re looking for. You’d need at least my lifespan– Oh wait, we don’t have centuries, do we?” Her voice lost the taunting edge to it at the last sentence, and she looked at him, considering, as Inoichi choked on spit. Centuries?! She had to be joking. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll help.” Several thin books floated down from various shelves, towards one of the tables to his right.

He finally broke and wheezed, “Centuries? That’s– That’s not possible.”

Hitsugaya stared at him again, before a dark chuckle rose from her throat. She swiftly walked over to a row of bookshelves near where the books had come from earlier, and glanced back at him. “Wait here,” she said, her voice commanding. Inoichi rolled his eyes, but conceded, moving closer to the table where the books were arranging themselves. He knew better than to touch one of them from his forays into Hatake’s mind. The books were where the brat kept all of his memories and knowledge organized. Apparently, the little brat worked the same way. Speaking of, she reappeared, a thin book in her hands. “I’m only showing you this for shits and giggles, I hope you realize this,” she said, handing the book over. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a king of winter to kill.” With that, she vanished from the library as if she were never there.

Inoichi stared at the book that was now in his hands, at once curious and wary of what it held between its plain white covers. He turned it in his hands, rubbing his fingers over what felt like a supple leather that acted as the binding, the thin pages silky from where they were pressed tight together. With a deep breath, he opened the cover, and literally fell into the memory within.

• • •

_A scream tore itself from his throat as he was sent freefalling through the crisp winter air. He grunted as he slammed into the hard-packed earth, and groaned at the dull pain radiating from his back and head. Stiffly, Inoichi pushed himself into a sitting position, rubbing at his skull where it impacted with the ground. He glanced around, and saw a battlefield stretched out below him. He blinked a few times, before a semi-familiar voice cried out in pain to his left. His head whipped around in time to see a young Hitsugaya being pushed to her knees by an armored soldier, in front of a man who appeared to be some kind of general. Hitsugaya was wearing a simple white yukata, no shoes or anything to keep her warm in sight, and if possible looked even younger than she did earlier. The general had an outraged look on his face. “This is the strategist that managed to outmaneuver my men countless times to date?” he asked, his voice incredulous._

_One of the other prisoners lunged forward. “Toshiro!”_

_Hitsugaya’s eyes widened, and she whipped her head towards the man. “Tou-san!” she yelled, trying to scramble towards the man now identified as her father. Inoichi ran an evaluating eye over the black hair and brown eyes, and concluded that the young girl had to have gotten her looks from her mother. Well, besides the tan, that was. The soldier who had pushed her to her knees previously stopped her progress, her oddly long white locks grabbed in a harsh grip. She cried out in pain. “Let me go! Tou-san!”_

_“Quiet, you!” the soldier hissed, pressing his drawn sword against Hitsugaya’s throat. Inoichi had heard the report of her unflinching reaction to a similar situation in the Hokage’s office, and thus was shocked by her sharp twitch away from the bloodstained blade, fear shining in bright emerald eyes. The soldier looked up to the general and asked, “What should we do with her, sir?”_

_The general stared down at Hitsugaya’s shivering form, before sliding his eyes towards her father. A mean smile crossed the man’s expression, before he ordered, “Cut her hair and kill her. Maybe then daddy will be more cooperative towards a total surrender.”_

_Inoichi’s eyes widened alongside Hitsugaya’s. He scrambled to his feet like he could do something to change the events, even as her father screamed, “No!” The soldier quickly moved his sword, another coming to grab hold of Hitsugaya’s arm to keep her in place, and with a quick slice those white locks were sheered from her head. Humiliation; it was obvious that her hair was a point of pride, after all how many could claim to have pure white hair at such an age? They were hoping to humiliate a young girl before killing her, just because she proved to be an able strategist? Hitsugaya was then yanked to her feet, whimpering and staring as the soldier who cut her hair dropped the locks to the ground before her, eyes locked on the white strands. Her hair was spiking up into a familiar look, which might have been another reason why she kept her hair so long. Then, faster than Inoichi could contemplate, that sword was buried deep in her gut, red blossoming on the pure white of her yukata._

_“Toshiro!”_

_He watched as the blade was swiftly jerked from her back, and she was thrown roughly to the ground. The memory began to waver, as blood soaked into the ground and turning it into red-tinted mud. When it solidified again, the tents that had surrounded them were burning or broken, and there was no sign of life. Even Hitsugaya was on her last breaths, but that couldn’t be right, because he was in her mind right now, so she couldn’t be dead. He saw off at the edge of his sight a woman in a black shihakusho and hakama, a sword strapped to her waist as she approached, but she had a kind of translucence to her that he’d never seen before. The woman kneeled down next to Hitsugaya, who didn’t seem to see her, and reached out as if to brush the short hairs out of the young girls face. Her fingers, though, just passed straight through Hitsugaya’s cheek, like they weren’t even there._

_As Hitsugaya fell into a stillness that only comes with death, it was like she was splitting in two, because she was also slowly pushing herself up to stand, floating, over her own body, staring at the corpse in horror and grim understanding. Inoichi took note of the odd chain that was dangling from the young girl’s chest that hadn’t been there before. Hitsugaya then looked to the woman, and whispered, “I’m dead, aren’t I?” The young woman nodded, pain evident in sharp blue eyes. Hitsugaya swallowed heavily, before a sob shook her shoulders. Inoichi glanced away, in the vain hopes of giving the girl some form of privacy even as he tried to wrap his mind around what he was seeing. She was dead? But, but no, she couldn’t be._

_Could she?_

• • •

Just as suddenly as he fell into the memory, he was kicked out. Inoichi was left blinking, the pure white of the library a stark contrast to the dark colors of what he’d just seen. He tried to open the now closed book in his hands again, but it tugged out of his hands and flew back towards its shelf. He huffed. One time use, it seems.

He was left trying to puzzle out why that was apparently a “shits and giggles” memory. It looked rather painful and personal to him, not something that he’d want anyone else to see.

There was also the fact that, apparently, she was dead. Somehow.

Perhaps it was explained in the other memories?

With that thought, Inoichi turned back to the table, and reached for a book that had shuffled towards him invitingly. “All right, I’m ready for you this time,” he muttered, and braced himself as he opened the front cover.

• • •

_Inoichi blinked as he realized that he wasn’t falling, and instead was actually standing in the memory. He growled, and grumbled, “Two in and I already hate these things.” He looked around and realized he was inside a room darkened by night, with three sleeping forms on the floor of said room. He looked around, and quickly found Hitsugaya, only to freeze at what he saw._

_The walls and floor around her small form was covered in an ice that practically resonated with the odd chakra she had. She apparently wasn’t consciously causing this, considering her current state of unconsciousness, and also apparently hadn’t decided to regrow her hair from the messy spikes he was seeing splayed out across her pillow._

_A flicker of black cloth drew his gaze once again, and Inoichi blinked as the same woman from the end of the last memory quietly entered through the open window, staring at the ice in a sort of excited awe. The woman carefully walked past the elderly lady and the young teenage girl with black hair, and knelt down next to Hitsugaya. She reached out and gently touched the young girl’s shoulder, causing Hitsugaya to jerk awake and blink up at the woman, who just smiled and pointed to the ice. “Believe me now, Toshiro-chan?” the woman whispered, even as Hitsugaya stared at the ice in shock._

_"I-I caused that?” the white-haired girl asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Inoichi felt an eyebrow jerk up in surprise. The way she acted outside of these memories, it was like she always knew her capabilities. The woman nodded her head excitedly, a bright grin on her face. “Is this why I can’t be around Obaa-san for more than three days?”_

_The grin slid off the woman’s face. She sighed and nodded. “Those with higher reiryoku than other spirits have a tendency of hurting those around them accidentally. Especially if they aren’t trained in how to harness it.”_

_Hitsugaya gained an inquisitive look. “Trained? You mean–“_

_“Shinsho Academy,” the woman said, nodding her head. “You’ve got a high enough reiatsu to become a Shinigami, easily. Just, think about it, ja-ne?”_

_Hitsugaya nodded slowly. “Thank you, Matsumoto-san.”_

• • •

Inoichi blinked again, and he was back inside the library with another book flying away from him. Well. That was interesting.

And then it clicked what that Matsumoto woman had said.

Shinigami?!

He reached for the next book, praying that they didn’t have a death god on their hands.

• • •

_Inoichi stumbled as he landed in the memory, almost falling flat on his face. He caught himself, and straightened, an uncomfortable flush on his cheeks. He glanced around and found himself standing in a courtyard in front of what appeared to be some kind of academy. Probably the Shinsho Academy that the Matsumoto woman had mentioned in the previous memory. Inoichi followed the flash of white hair he caught sight of among the students filing into the building, blinking as he caught up with Hitsugaya upon seeing the familiar cold mask she wore while Ibiki was questioning her. At the same time, though, he realized that the young girl appeared almost masculine, her features at the most androgynous without the bangs hanging in her face. Instead, all of her hair was pushed up into the spikes, making her face appear sharper._

_Inoichi followed her down the hallway with the rest of the students almost twice her height dressed in the black shihakusho and hakama that Matsumoto had been wearing. His ears picked up on the whispers as students glanced down at Hitsugaya, some in awe, others contemptuous. He easily heard the whispers of prodigy in reference to the girl, though they continually use male pronouns when referring to her, that she was graduating barely seven months after joining the Academy, which from what he could hear from the various students apparently was supposed to take six years. He felt his eyes widen as he realized that apparently he was correct in comparing Hitsugaya and Hatake. Only another prodigy would have a system so similar to that brat._

• • •

Inoichi shook his head as he was booted out of the odd, short memory. Then again, with the information he gathered just from that short walk, he didn’t need more. He barely even noticed as the book left his grip to return to its home, already reaching for the next one.

They were clearly dealing with someone who made Hatake Kakashi look like an idiot. And he still wasn’t entirely sure she wasn’t a death god. The thought almost made Inoichi want to cry.

• • •

_He smoothly stepped into the memory, a smirk on his face at not almost falling again. A glance showed Hitsugaya standing with the sword they confiscated from her strapped to her back by a gold chain to Inoichi's left. Before her were two men in similar clothing, but with white haori’s over their shihakusho and hakama. The elder, who slightly reminded Inoichi of Sarutobi, was partially leaning on a cane set in front of him. The elder was staring at Hitsugaya with a strict look him his eyes, but Inoichi also caught sight of the paternal warmth hidden in the gaze. “You are not at fault hiding as you have, Hitsugaya. In these circumstances, I wish you had the protection being male would bring you.”_

_Hitsugaya lowered her head, her bottom lip catching between her teeth as a saddened look entered her eyes. The black-haired man beside the elder slid a slightly disapproving look towards the other haori-clad man._

_The elder cleared his throat. “However, as you are one of our most promising new Shinigami, Hitsugaya, we shall continue the ruse.”_

_Her white head snapped up, and she stared at the elder in confusion. “Yamamoto-soutaicho?” she whispered._

_Yamamoto bowed his head slightly. “Continue under the impression that you are male, Hitsugaya. As your reiatsu grows, I give you permission to place however many limiters you deem necessary to keep you true power hidden. I also expect between yourself and Shiba-taicho that a plan be created should the worst comes to pass.” A flash of anger appeared in his eyes, and smoke billowed from his nostrils. “No young dragoness shall fall to the Royal Family should I know about them first.”_

_Hitsugaya stared at Yamamoto, confusion fading away to awe and joy. She bowed to the two and hesitantly said, “H-Hai, Yamamoto-soutaicho, Shiba-taicho.”_

_The last thing Inoichi saw in the memory was the approving nod Yamamoto gave, and the bright grin on Shiba’s face._

• • •

Inoichi sat back and rubbed at his temples. So, she really was hiding from someone. This Royal Family that Yamamoto had brought up. From the sound of it, they could probably force even that old man into doing what they ordered, if they were anything like the Daimyo.

A literal political refugee.

It was like Kiri all over again.

He blindly reached for the second to last memory-book, and cracked open the covers.

• • •

_Inoichi yelped as he landed on his butt harshly. He grit his teeth, and finally got the feeling that this was Hitsugaya’s payback for looking through her memories._

_He glanced around, and found himself, and Hitsugaya and Shiba, standing in the middle of a forest. Far behind him, Inoichi could just barely sense a large concentration of chakra, and so guessed that the city they lived in was there. He returned his focus to the two Shinigami, and blinked at the doors standing free of any building in the center of a well-hidden glade that they were approaching._

_Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow, and slid a look over to Shiba. “Taicho, are you certain this is safe?”_

_Shiba gave a comforting grin, setting a hand on the young girl’s shoulder. “A friend of mine built this specifically for this purpose, Toshiro, he’s never failed me before. Now, this Senkaimon will take you to one of the few dimensions that Seireitei holds no dominion over, much less the Soul King. Death itself works differently there, you won’t be a Shinigami once you step through, though according to my friend you should still retain your powers and zanpaktō.” Hitsugaya nodded while Inoichi just gave the doors an incredulous stare. That’s what she came through in? “The gate is a one-way trip, so once you leave there’s no going back.”_

_“Do you know anything about the dimension it’s connected to?”_

_“Not much, personally, just that it’s the closest one with powers similar to what a zanpaktō grants. Remember, this is a last resort, one-use only thing. If something happens to me, your only hope for freedom is to get to this gate as fast as you can,” Shiba said, his expression serious._

_Hitsugaya nodded decisively. “Hai, taicho.”_

• • •

Inoichi barely let himself acclimatize to the library again before delving into the last memory.

• • •

_Hitsugaya was standing across from Yamamoto once more, looking more like the girl Inoichi knew her as. Yamamoto looked particularly grim, while Hitsugaya had a stricken look on her face. “He-he’s gone?”_

_“Yes,” Yamamoto said, inclining his head. He then looked Hitsugaya dead in the eyes. “This is strictly off the record, do you understand Third Seat Hitsugaya?”_

_The girl stiffened, and nodded once. “Hai, Yamamoto-soutaicho.”_

_“Whatever plan is in place, implement it. Do not tell me what it is, but disappear. As you know, I do not want the Royal Family to get their hands on my granddaughter than you want to be caught, dear girl.”_

_Inoichi swallowed heavily as Hitsugaya bowed and left the room, leaving a trail of frost behind her._

• • •

He closed his eyes and leaned back in the seat he had taken at the table. He reached up and rubbed at a temple. Shit. Shit. What the shit. This was nothing like what he was expecting when he was given the signal.

What, the shit.

“Enlightening, wasn’t it?” Hitsugaya’s voice chimed. Inoichi jerked and stared at the young woman sitting on the table in front of him, looking at her nails as if they were the most interesting thing in existence. He almost groaned, but managed to swallow the noise.

What the ever-loving shit had he walked in to?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cackles madly* Poor Inoichi! Yes, this was the best that I could come up with for the memory chapter. I apologize for keeping it within one POV, but it just worked out the best this way.
> 
> Tell me what you think! I've got more where this comes from!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshiro explains to a slightly panicking Inoichi her situaiton, and Kakashi learns to never piss Toshiro off ever again. Or call her chan.

Toshiro watched Inoichi from her peripheries, feeling some sort of sick triumph over how he was just sitting there staring at her in shock, confusion, and horror. She prepared herself for any number of questions he could come up with just from the scant few memories she had decided to show him, and yet was still caught off guard when he started with the one that should have been the most obvious:

“You’re dead?”

She felt an eyebrow twitch. “You saw the first memory, I know you did.”

“Yes, but– You’re dead?”

“What about it?”

“How are you– You’re dead?!”

“I run out of fingers and I’m kicking you out,” Toshiro warned, holding up three fingers. Inoichi just waved her away.

“You– How are you–“ His hands gestured towards her wildly. “If you’re dead?!”

She ticked up a fourth finger as she answered, “Shinigami.”

“You’re a Death God? Because you’re dead?”

Fifth finger. “Consider my job to be more of a guide for souls, helping them pass on to the afterlife.”

“Which you can do because you’re dead?”

Her second hand raised as her sixth finger ticked off. “No, I can do that because my reiryoku, my spiritual pressure, is high enough that I can manifest a zanpaktō.”

Inoichi stared at her, shook his head, and rubbed at both his temples. “Okay, let me get this straight: You’re dead.” Her seventh finger ticked off. “You guide souls to the afterlife, because you’re dead,”

“Two more mentions of that and you’re out,” she warned. Inoichi brushed her off.

“You’re on the run from the King of Souls who wants to marry you–“

“Not marry, he wants me to give him children,” she said in a bored tone of voice.

“Whatever, point is that this Soul King, that rules over dead people,” ninth finger went up, “wants to knock you up, I think because you have that dragon in you, right?”

“Yes, Hyorinmaru is the reason why I’m being hunted.”

“Hyo-what?”

She sighed. “Hyorinmaru. The dragon that sent you here because he thought I’d kick you out for being impertinent. He’s laughing at you, by the way.”

Inoichi gave her a bland look. “You named the dragon that?”

A bark of laughter spilled from her. “Named? Hell, he came with that name. I’m just his recent reincarnation, so to speak.”

“Right.” He blinked. “Anyway, you’re here because this King doesn’t rule over death here, right?”

“Yep. Works completely differently than the Seireitei.”

“But how can you do that when you’re dead?”

Toshiro felt her eyebrow twitch as her final finger ticked off. “Before I kick you out, I’ll answer your question with another: you can see me, can’t you?” Inoichi blinked at her as a grin crossed her lips. “Here, I’m just as alive as you are. Just add a couple centuries more experience.” She then waved a hand at his face. “Now get out!

• • •

Toshiro blinked her eyes open in time to see Inoichi’s head jerk up as if something slammed into him. Pale blue eyes met her glittering emeralds, and she couldn’t help the shit-eating grin that crossed her face.

“Inoichi, what did you get?” Ibiki said, breaking the stare-off the two had. Toshiro let her grin fade into a smirk as she settled more comfortably into her chair.

Inoichi turned to Ibiki and said, “You’re not going to believe me, boss.”

Ibiki raised an eyebrow and just said, “Try me”

The blonde took a deep breath, seeming to try to come up with some opener that his boss would believe, before finally blurting out, “She’s dead!”

“Eleven,” she chimed, just to get him to glare at her.

Ibiki glanced between Toshiro and Inoichi, before blandly saying, “Come again?”

“She’s– dead, has died, is somehow living here and now.” Inoichi then sighed and slumped. “I told you that you wouldn’t believe me,” he grumbled.

“Twelve– reach fifteen and I’ll kick you in the head,” she said, her smirk forming into a grin.

He just glared at her before turning back to Ibiki. “I swear, boss, I’m not making this up. One of the memories she showed me was of her own death, and the rest came after that.” He then hesitated, before adding, “Her mind, it was like taking Hatake’s and multiplying it at least ten times. She’s got at least three centuries worth of memories and knowledge.”

Toshiro could feel the sudden perk of interest coming off of Hound in waves, and scowled. “Hands off, mutt. I didn’t let a King lay his hands on me, I’m not letting you,” she snapped, hoping that her warning was enough to get him to back off.

“Maa, no need to be so hostile,” Hound said, his voice much more relaxed than back in the office.

Toshiro rolled her eyes. “When you perk up like an excitable puppy with a bone, there’s definitely a need to be hostile,” she retorted, glaring at where she sensed his reiatsu and letting the air around him to plummet into arctic temperatures.

“Oh right, then there’s the King that wants to marry her, which is the reason that she came here in the first place,” Inoichi said before her and Hound’s spat could continue.

Toshiro glared at him. “I already said he doesn’t want to marry me! He already has a Queen, thank you very much,” she snapped. “As I already told you, he wants me to give him children who’d hopefully have a dragon zanpaktō of their own.”

Inoichi waved her off, again. “Yes, the King in charge of all the dead people, who you are one of,”

“Thirteen,”

“Wanted to knock you up and have little dragonlings with you. And you’re some kind of Death God, but you say you’re not a Death God, so I have no idea what to believe there.”

“I’m taking that as number fourteen, one more comment about my being dead and it’s concussion time,” she warned.

“Dragonlings,” Ibiki deadpanned.

She blinked, and remembered that only Inoichi had been in her head to actually see Hyorinmaru. Before she could open her mouth to say anything, though, her zanpaktō glowed brightly, and Hyorinmaru’s humanoid form came into view. “May we finish speaking of my ice princess having hatchlings with that fool who calls himself King?” he snarled. Toshiro sighed as everyone else in the room just stared at her dragon-in-human-skin.

“Hyorinmaru,” she groaned out, fighting a smirk as Inoichi just paled. That couldn’t be healthy. At all.

Inoichi just swallowed and squeaked out, “You’re that dragon, aren’t you?”

Hyorinmaru gave him a dry look before turning his gaze to Ibiki. “You are done questioning her, yes? I do believe my presence like this is enough to convince you of what your colleague says?”

Ibiki blinked, sighed, and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “Oh, the paperwork this is going to cause… Yes, we’re done.”

Toshiro and Hyorinmaru nodded in synch, and as her dragon faded from view she said, “Good. Does that mean I can just slip out the village gates and disappear now?”

“I do not believe that is wise,” the Hokage’s voice came from the doorway. Toshiro turned her gaze to him in surprise, while everyone else stood and bowed. The old man crossed the room and took Inoichi’s seat. “With your abilities and wealth of knowledge, you would be a target for others to carve into a weapon to be unleashed at their choosing.”

She gave him a dry look. “And who’s to say I’m not already a weapon?” she drawled, a hand reaching out to finger Hyorinmaru’s indigo sheath lightly.

The Hokage smiled and leaned forward. “I have a proposition for you,” he said, folding his hands together. She raised an eyebrow, and he just gave her a serene look that did not match the mischievous spark on his eyes.

• • •

“Why did I agree to this again?” Toshiro grumbled, stomping behind the now-unmasked Hound—also known as Hatake Kakashi—as he lead her towards a training ground.

“Maa maa, you agreed because it gives you the best amount of protection,” he said in a placating tone of voice, his nose shoved into an orange-covered book. From the cartoons on the covers, Toshiro figured that it wasn’t something she wanted to read. It looked entirely too unprofessional and perverted for her taste in reading. Which then made her question why Kakashi was reading that book– in public, of all places. Shameless, really.

She grumbled and crossed her arms, looking away from him. She refused to admit she was pouting, because she wasn’t. This was the best option she had, even if it was still dangerous. Then again, being a Shinigami wasn’t exactly a safe vocation anyways. She was used to her life being in danger.

The offer that Sarutobi gave her was fairly simple: join the shinobi forces of Konohagakure and have the protection from not only other villages who would use her, but from the Council and Elders within the village as well. She just needed to catch up with the Academy graduates in two months time, and figure out how to do the odd kido called jutsu that’s used in this dimension. Which was where Kakashi came in, because apparently he was some kind of specialist when it comes to jutsu of all types. And a fellow prodigy, apparently. According to Sarutobi, he was the best bet for her learning how to manipulate her reiatsu like their chakra, and thus learn and master the techniques necessary for graduation.

She had to admit, the abilities the shinobi had were rather intriguing. It made her wonder just how much easier her job could have been if she could have just taken someone’s place to gather information, or switched places with something in order to prevent an injury. Though, from what she could tell, this jutsu stuff wasn’t limited to just one element, or regular energy like kido was. It was illusions, it was five different elements, which could be combined with one another to create another, it was physical combat. It was everything that Shinigami could do and more, and Toshiro actually could barely stop herself from vibrating out of her skin at the thought of learning such techniques.

She just didn’t particularly like the fact that her teacher was the one who wanted to get his hands on her brain just a few hours ago.

They came to a stop inside one of the training grounds. She looked around the clearing and saw three posts close to what she guessed was a lake at one end, and a black stone at the other that was partially hidden by the trees and other foliage. The trees provided a fair amount of shade from the rising sun, for which she was grateful of. Heat, ugh.

For the first time since they had met up, Kakashi snapped his book closed and looked at her. “Well, the good news is that you won’t be using an energy source you know nothing about. Your reiatsu, as you call it, acts enough like chakra that there should only be a negligible difference in application,” he said. Toshiro raised an eyebrow at him, and received a semi-familiar looking upside-down U eye-smile she’d only ever seen on Matsumoto’s face. “Maa, the first thing should probably be figuring out what that difference will be, then.”

Toshiro nodded, wondering just what he was thinking of having her do to figure that out. When he knelt down and picked up a leaf, she looked at him like he was joking. “A leaf? What would that do?” Another eye-smile as he held the leaf out for her to take.

“Try and get it to stick to your skin– without freezing it in place,” he ordered.

Both white eyebrows now inching towards her hairline, Toshiro obediently took the leaf from him, looked from it and back to his still-smiling features, and, after removing her glove, pressed the leaf to the inside of her left wrist. A touch of concentration, and she let go of the stem. A frown etched into her eyebrows as she had a small struggle keeping her reiatsu from freezing the leaf, before getting it to settle into obedience. She looked back at Kakashi to see him holding out another leaf for her to repeat the process on, which she did with a small eye roll. Quickly, she learned why he started with this odd exercise. While she could maintain one leaf perfectly fine without a touch of frost or ice, it got harder the more points she had to focus on, and the longer and longer she took between adding more leaves to her skin.

Even with the majority of her concentration on keeping the leaves where they were, Toshiro could still feel the shock and amazement rolling off of Kakashi’s reiatsu. As she pressed a tenth leaf onto her arm, she muttered, “What’s got you all like that, mutt?”

Kakashi’s voice was serious, and still sounding a little awed. “Most Academy student’s can’t even hold three leaves in place, much less ten. And they had to practice a long time to get even that.”

Toshiro lifted her right shoulder, biting at her lip. Finally, she quietly admitted, “I have a lot of self-control, and a high level of self-understanding. Both are required to learn the second release state of every zanpaktō.”

“And you have this release?”

She nodded slowly. “I achieved Bankai two months ago. Any chance I got, I used to learn my capabilities, to master what I could do. To do so at my age is… practically unheard of in the Seireitei.” As she spoke, she took another leaf and added it to her collection.

By the time she had her reiatsu stabilized to where it wasn’t freezing the leaf, Kakashi said, “That’s enough. I think you’ve got the hang of that exercise.” Toshiro let the flow cut off, and watched as all the leaves fell to the ground. “That, Hitsugaya-san, was one of the most basic levels of chakra control exercises all shinobi learn. For a first time, you blew my expectations out of the water.” His expression, as far as she could tell what with only getting a good look at his single eye, turned contemplative. “I must admit, I’m curious about what you are capable of without this training.”

Toshiro hesitated, before picking one of the leaves she had used for the exercise up off the ground. With barely a thought, frost crept along the edge of the leaf, and seconds later it was frozen solid.

Kakashi blinked, sighed, and waved a hand at her. “Yes, I remember your control over ice and cold, but what exactly is it that you can do?”

She stared at him, blinking a couple times. “You- want to see my Shikai and Bankai?” she slowly asked, just to make sure that was what she was hearing. At his nod, she sighed and nodded, dropping the leaf to shatter on the ground. “All right, but if the training ground gets destroyed I’m blaming you.” She stepped into the center of the field and unsheathed Hyorinmaru. She moved through a series of basic katas to warm up her muscles, and also to show her proficiency in that. Toshiro then called out, “Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!” She easily grabbed the chain in her off hand, swinging the crescent-moon blade at the other end with ease. The transition in katas was an easy one that she’d practiced for years, and it showed in the almost casual way she flicked the very sharp blade around her person. She relished in the drop in temperature her body went through, how her blood began to thicken and heart slow. A flick of a wrist, and a jet of ice in the shape of a dragon flew from her blade, twisting in the air and breathing ice fire onto the ground, indigo-colored lotus petals bursting from where the fire hit. Hyorinmaru roared approvingly in her soul scape as she quickly called, “Bankai! Daiguren Hyorinmaru!” Her temperature dropped drastically, her blood turning to ice in her veins as her Bankai form unfurled in a rush of reiatsu. Ice wings extended from her back, a tail slithering from the base of her spine, and she felt it creep over her chest to act like armor. Without even glancing behind her, she knew that the lotus flowers were floating serenely behind her, waiting to dissolve and limit her time in the form. She jumped up and showcased that no, the wings were not for show, before alighting back on the ground and dropping her Bankai. She easily met Kakashi’s wide eye, and said, “The lotus flowers act as a time limit. Once all the petals dissipate naturally, I’m practically useless until I recover enough reiatsu.”

• • •

Kakashi was never more glad that he wore a mask than now, if only to hide his gaping mouth from the centuries old young girl standing in front of him, sword unsheathed and held easily to her side. What she showed him was enough to make him glad that she had taken Sarutobi-sama’s offer, because he certainly did not want to have her on the side opposing him. He snapped his jaw shut and swallowed heavily. “Well,” he said tightly, “I’d not use that often, if I were you. Others might think you’re a jinchuuriki, and we really don’t want another war to break out just because Konoha now technically has two.”

Toshiro tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “Jinchuuriki? What’s that, and why would people think I’m one?”

Kakashi sweatdropped, not knowing how to answer that without spilling an S-class secret. “Maa, jinchuuriki are individuals who have powerful chakra beasts sealed inside of them.”

“And because of Hyorinmaru I may be mistaken for one,” she pressed. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, a habit he picked up from spending years with Minato-sensei.

“Well, yes. And as I said, we really don’t want a war to break out over the fact that we might have an unauthorized jinchuuriki while all the other villages still have theirs. Or, what they think is a jinchuuriki.”

Toshiro was silent for a minute, the space between her eyebrows furrowing as she scowled down at the ground. Kakashi let her think, hoping silently that she’d drop the subject. Thinking about jinchuuriki’s led to him thinking about a boy with sunshine-blonde hair and bright blue eyes that never stopped smiling and looked too much like Minato-sensei for Kakashi’s heart to handle. Of course, she seemed to have latched onto this topic with both hands and refused to let it go. “Konoha has one of these.”

“Err, yes–“

“Name, age, physical description, mental state?”

Kakashi stared at her for a second, before an uneasy chuckle tumbled from a tight throat. “Ah, I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

“Why not?” she asked. “Form the sounds of it, these jinchuuriki probably aren’t well liked in their village. If I’m going to be confused for one anyway, I might as well know who I’m being lumped into the same category with while in this village.”

“It’s not that,” he carefully said. Toshiro raised an eyebrow, clearly challenging him. Kakashi sighed and looked up and the sky. Oh, how to put this… “Konoha’s Bijuu, the chakra beast, attacked the village twelve years ago. When it was sealed away, many in the village mistook its jinchuuriki for the Bijuu.”

Toshiro was still staring at him with the same expression on her face when he looked at her again. He stared right back. They kept that way for a minute before he felt his visible eye twitch.

“Other than that, I can’t tell you much more.”

“Why not?”

“Maa, Toshiro-chan–“

WHAM!

Kakashi had not seen the flying kick that knocked him to the ground and probably fractured his jaw until he was skidding across the ground. He scrambled to his feet just as Toshiro bellowed out, “DON’T CALL ME CHAN!” and charged at him in a whirlwind of icy-cold, indignant fury.

What came next was the most traumatizing half hour of his life.

He was kind of glad that she sheathed her sword before going after him.

It just reaffirmed his belief of not wanting to be Toshiro’s enemy. The girl could kick.

Finally, after taking a powerful kick to the stomach and falling flat on his back, Toshiro let up on the attack and just sat on his chest, glowering down at him from over her crossed arms with dangerous jade eyes. “Now then,” she hissed out, frosty-breath billowing from her lips like smoke, “you were going to inform me why you are incapable of giving more information on the jinchuuiki. Such as a name. Or age.”

Kakashi kept very still, hoping that if by doing so she wouldn’t hit him again. He was going to have more bruises than even Gai’s challenges gave him by the morning. He swallowed heavily, and quickly said, “The knowledge of the jinchuuriki’s identity is supposed to be an S-class secret that is not to be passed down to the current generation without Hokage-sama’s permission. Honestly, I shouldn’t have even told you what I have about him.” He winced at the minor slip that he was sure Toshiro was going to pick up on. From the scowl that graced her expression, he knew she did.

“Keeping others from speaking their minds does not change them,” she ground out. “Allow me to guess, from your earlier comment regarding the village’s thought of the jinchuuriki: no one treats him normally.”

“Maa, Hokage-sama and one of his teachers views him as family,” Kakashi was quick to reply. “And ANBU have protected him for years now.”

“Two people openly and a relatively small amount of the shinobi forces,” she retorted. “While the rest either hate his guts or are openly neutral to him, am I right?”

“Okay, how do you do this?”

“Genius, remember? And I was third in command of the division in charge of all internal investigations within the Seireitei, including the judges that made up those who the soutaicho answered to. Information gathering and distilling is habit at this point.” She then raised an eyebrow at him—again—and waited for his answer.

With a sigh, he shifted his gaze past the angry jade eyes boring holes into his skull to look up at the sky. “Yes, your guess is mostly accurate. The civilians hate him, along with most of the lower ranking shinobi, especially those civilian-born. The rest don’t really have much to do with him beyond the occasional chase whenever he pulls a prank.”

Toshiro stared down at him, which Kakashi refused to meet because doing so will just knock the nail in the coffin and he already had plenty of issues and guilt about not looking after the little ball of sunshine that was supposed to be his brother. She said quietly, “Seireitei was made up of two parts, the Gotei 13 and the Rukongai. To give you a comparison of what you just explained, it would be like saying almost everyone in Seireitei was scared of Hollows. Now, the Rukongai is made up of ninety-nine districts, with hundreds of thousands of souls in it. The Gotei 13 was made up of only a few thousand Shinigami.” Kakashi glanced at her eyes and found that he couldn’t look away. “Souls out in the Rukongai are so scared of hollows that they ostracize those that don’t fit in with them, for whatever reason they wish to give, whether they seem to attract Hollows, or just look different from the rest. So I know the ratio he’s dealing with. I know what it’s like to be able to count the people I care about on one hand for more than a decent amount of time. If anyone in this village has a chance of understanding that boy, it’s me.” She tilted her head, blinked, asked, “So. Name and physical description, if you would be so kind.” She paused again, her eyes losing focus for a second, before locking back in on his visible eye. In a slightly louder voice, she asked, “Would he happen to be the one hiding in the trees off to my right trying to eavesdrop on us?”

Kakashi whipped his head to the side at the sound of a surprised squawk and crash, and watched as an orange-clothed blonde fell out of one of the trees. How the crap did he not sense the boy?! He sighed, swore that he’d use the next two months to get back into shape, and said, “Yeah, that’s him.”

The tiny slip of a girl who packed more of a punch that Kakashi expected hummed and stood up from her spot on his chest. He wisely chose this time to disappear and watch from a distance. He was supposed to be looking after her, after all, he couldn’t just leave.

No matter how much he wished he could.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshiro and Naruto meet, they have lunch with Iruka and Kakashi, and Toshiro learns the basics of the future Rookie 9.

When Kakashi had explained jinchuuriki to Toshiro, and how the current one was treated, she most certainly hadn’t been expecting the boy to appear to be a happy bundle of sunshine in orange. She strode over to stand in front of where the boy was sitting, and watched as he rubbed at the lump on the top of his head where he hit the ground. Once she stood in front of him, she asked, “How much of that did you hear?”

“Only something about knowing ratios or something like that, you were speaking too low for me to really hear without exposing myself,” he grumbled, before seeming to realize who had asked him the question. He blinked and jerked his head up, bright blue eyes meeting her emeralds. A wide grin crossed his lips easily, and she found herself stunned momentarily by how bright and excited it was. “Wow, so the rumors were true!” he cried out.

Toshiro quirked an eyebrow. “Rumors? I just showed up this morning,” she deadpanned.

“Well yeah, but this is a shinobi village,” he said, waving her off. She noted that his smile never left his face, curving the odd whisker-like marks on his cheeks. “It’s not all that hard to overhear the jounin and ANBU gossiping about the goings-on inside the village. Especially about something as major as you.”

“Really,” she drawled, dry resignation settling in her gut. Damn, they sounded worse than Matsumoto. If this was a normal thing, she may actually have to pay attention to the gossipers in this village. “And just what are they saying about me?”

“That you somehow managed to sneak up on Jiji, though no one ever mentioned how, that you’re really young and really strong. And pretty,” he said plainly, and Toshiro figured that his voice must just be naturally pitched at a louder decibel. She ignored the slight flush that rose on her cheeks at the pretty comment. “Though I gotta say, they didn’t exaggerate that last bit. Or that you’re strong. Kashi-nii is really hard to beat.”

She couldn’t quite stop the sputter that burst from her lips a that, and resolutely tried to convince herself that the rising flush wasn’t from embarrassment. She cut her eyes away from the boy with surprising difficulty, and crossed her arms with a huff. “Definitely worse than Matsumoto,” she muttered, glaring at the lake just a few feet away. Once she wrestled her flush into submission—stoutly ignoring the sniggers from the boy that caused it and a certain dragon—Toshiro looked back at him and offered a hand up. “Well, may I request your name, since you seem to know so much about me?”

The boy blinked, shock clearly written on his face, before a brighter, more genuine smile crossed his lips as he reached up to take her hand. “I’m Uzumaki Naruto! Say say, they never said your name in those rumors?”

Toshiro rolled her eyes and let her lips quirk up. She easily pulled Naruto to his feet and let go of his hand. “Hitsugaya Toshiro,” she easily said, stepping back a pace to give him space. “So, you hear a lot of rumors?” she asked, prompting an excited nod from Naruto.

“Yeah! A lot of people tend to ignore that I’m even there, so I hear a lot!” He then looked around and leaned close. “I also managed to sneak into the ANBU headquarters more times than I can count. For elite shinobi, their situational awareness really sucks.”

Toshiro covered what might have been a giggle with her hand, remembering Kakashi’s shocked look when Naruto fell out of the tree. “I guess so,” she said with laughter in her tone. Naruto’s grin widened, as if he’d never made someone laugh before, and Toshiro felt like she’d been stabbed in the gut all over again. Huh, maybe showing that memory to Inoichi hadn’t been a good idea if she’s getting phantom pains again. Or maybe this village was just that bad, and a kid like Naruto shouldn’t have to light up just from getting a stifled laugh out of someone. (She deliberately ignored the fact that it was very difficult to get her to laugh anyways. That was an irrelevant point.)

It then registered what he said about everyone ignoring him, and fought hard not to let her anger take control of her. Considering there was no distinguishable drop in temperature, she counted it a success and focused back in on what Naruto was saying.

“Say, are you gonna join the Academy? If you can beat Kashi-nii now, you probably would be a kick-butt shinobi!”

She smiled and nodded. “Hai, the Hokage is allowing me to graduate this year if I can catch up with the current class.”

His eyes widened, and a sparkle seemed to light them from within. “That’s so cool! We could totally be on the same team if you make it!”

Toshiro felt her smile soften, and a fond expression took over her face. “I think I’d like that,” she said. Naruto reminded her of a more energetic Matsumoto, with just as much damage as Toshiro herself. Oh, she could see that most of his exuberance was a mask, having one herself, but she wasn’t going to call him on it. If that was how he needed to cope, then she was just going to let him continue, and hope that he’d let her in.

She could see herself letting him in eventually. She could also tell that he was already causing cracks in her walls of ice.

“Wanna go get lunch with me? I’ll tell you about everyone else in the class,” he asked. Toshiro smoothed out her expression and nodded, falling into step beside him as he started bouncing out of the training ground.

“Your choice, since I’m new around here,” she said, which got an excited shout out of Naruto.

“Ichiraiku Ramen here we come!”

• • •

After the first few glares the civilians sent Naruto’s way, Toshiro couldn’t stop the temperature dropping if her life depended on it. Her rage at seeing similar treatments as what she went through before Granny ( _don’t think about having left her behind, don’t think about it_ ) found her and took her in was too great. She only felt bad about it when Naruto started shivering and clattered, “I-I d-don’t th-think its s-supposed t-t-to b-be thi-this c-c-cold i-in s-summer.” Toshiro closed her eyes and forced deep breaths through her lungs, forcing the near artic temperatures to dissipate, though the air immediately around her was still chilled.

“Sorry,” she forced out, blinking her eyes open. She blinked again when she noticed the amazed look in Naruto’s eyes. “What?”

“You, you did that?” he asked, his eyes wide. She shrugged and nodded, not seeing what the big deal was. “That’s so cool. How’d you do it? Was it a jutsu? I didn’t see you perform hand seals, but you managed to kick Kashi-nii’s butt so you might not need to use those. But if that were the case you’d already be a shinobi, so–“

Toshiro raised a hand, which seemed to be enough to cut him off. She hesitated, trying to find a way to explain what happened without revealing what she was, before giving a small smile. “It happens sometimes when I’m angry. I, didn’t appreciate the glares you were receiving,” she said quietly.

Naruto blinked, staring at her, before he plastered on the fakest grin she’d ever seen him wear, his eyes closing from the force of it. “Ne, I’m used to them. You don’t need to get all angry over it,” he said, throwing his hands behind his head.

She shook her head. “You’re my friend,” she whispered, and wow, when did that happen? She placed that revelation on the backburner to study later, when she’s alone. Instead, she continued, “I protect those I consider friends. So yes, I do feel the need to get angry over such treatment.”

As they continued walking in silence, she allowed him to mull over her words, knowing from experience that he needed to process what she revealed (kinda like herself, but she was good at repressing that until she was alone) to make sure she was being truthful. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Naruto relax minutely, which made her realize that he’d been constantly tensed since he fell out of that tree. She then saw him perk up, and turned her head just in time to see a wide grin cover his face. “Iruka-sensei!” he cried out, running up to a man in what Toshiro guessed was the uniform for higher ranked shinobi, though ANBU appeared to have their own, separate uniform. One corner of her lips quirked up as she saw her new friend jump onto this Iruka-sensei’s back, and was impressed when Iruka only turned his head and smiled at Naruto, not even stumbling from the additional weight. Impressive.

“Hello there, Naruto. What has you so happy today?” Iruka asked, seeming to really want to know about the blonde’s day. Toshiro tilted her head and wondered if this was the teacher that Kakashi had mentioned.

Naruto hopped off the instructor’s back and bounced to his side, looking back and waving Toshiro forward. “I made a new friend! This is Toshiro, the one everyone’s gossiping about!”

Toshiro rolled her eyes and drily delivered, “I doubt everything they say is accurate, if the rumor mill is anything like back home.” She then turned to Iruka and bowed. “Hello, Iruka-sensei. I’m Hitsugaya Toshiro, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

When she straightened, Iruka was smiling at her, though she saw that his eyes were somewhat bewildered. “Nice to meet you as well, Hitsugaya-san. Should I ask what my idiot of an adopted brother did, and perhaps apologize?”

“Oi!”

Toshiro shook her head. “He tried to listen in on a conversation I was having with my jounin escort. There is no need for apologies.“

“You beat the snot out of your ‘escort’. I doubt you even need one!”

“He made a comment I did not appreciate,” she said icily, unknowingly sending shivers down Iruka and Naruto’s spines from her tone of voice alone. “And according to Hokage-sama, I do. At least, until I graduate in two months.”

Toshiro watched Iruka’s expression fall into thoughtful confusion. She expected the question he was going to ask, and was pleased when she was found correct. “I do not remember you in any of the classes at the Academy, Hitsugaya-san. And according to what I’ve heard, you only just arrived this morning…”

She inclined her head. “I received prior training in kenjutsu starting at a young age,” true, “but due to an issue back home I had to flee and request sanctuary here,” also true. “I have also been labeled a prodigy countless times over, however I do not like the term personally,” unfortunately true. “When I heard about the Academy here, I was intrigued, and the Hokage has allowed me a chance to catch up and see if I can graduate with the current class,” untrue and a truth, in that order. She smiled and added, “I’m confident enough in my abilities, Iruka-sensei.” She disliked the verbal dance, but as with all her skills she was a master at it. Or, would have been if she didn’t have the temper she did.

Iruka had gained a look of understanding and amusement. “Well then, I wish you luck, Hitsugaya-san,” he said in return, though his tone still held a decent level of bemusement.

Naruto started bouncing again, and asked, “Hey, Iruka-sensei, want to join us for lunch?”

“Let me guess,” yeah, that was definitely fondness in that smile now that it was turned back to the ball of sunshine, “Ichiraiku Ramen?” Naruto nodded excitedly, prompting an exaggerated put-upon sigh. “I suppose I have the time to join you. Though I’m not paying for the entirety of your bill, Naruto,” Iruka said, his voice becoming serious at the end there. Toshiro raised an eyebrow at that. What could possibly have prompted such a reaction from the seemingly mild-mannered man?

“Aw, Iruka-sensei!”

“You nearly bankrupted me last time.”

“But I need the money for rent and I’m not gonna get my allowance for another three weeks!”

That, mixed with what had to be the most lethal puppy eyes that Toshiro had ever seen—and she worked with Matsumoto and Shiba-taicho on a regular basis—seemed to be what caused Iruka to crack. He sighed, this time less for theatrics and more out of hopelessness. “Oh, Naru… Fine. I’ll pay.”

Naruto jumped up and pumped his fist while Toshiro rolled her eyes at the obvious manipulation, while trying once again to keep her anger under a tight leash at the rent comment. She then turned to a nearby alley and said, “Mutt, stop being a creeper and join us.” That garnered odd looks behind her back, until Kakashi stepped out with his nose in that book again.

“Maa, Toshiro-kun, I’m not being a creeper,” he drawled out, not taking his eye off the pages while still paying utmost attention to his surroundings. Well. Looks like he learned his lesson about situational awareness earlier. And about calling her chan.

She rolled her eyes and quipped, “You were watching us back at the training ground, and have been following us the entire way here. You were being a creeper.” She sighed and shook her head. “Come on, before Naruto decides to run off without us,” she said, beginning to walk away from the group. “And it’s not such a good idea that I lead!” she called over her shoulder, prompting the others to follow, Naruto soon bouncing at her side again.

• • •

Iruka watched, a mixture of amused and seriously confused, as Naruto bounded inside of Ichiraiku’s with the seemingly unflappable and highly mature Toshiro following right behind. He couldn’t make heads nor tails out of how these two became friends, especially such fast and apparently close ones, too. Toshiro seemed like a nice person, and definitely would be a very good influence on Naruto in the long run… but this was still his little brother, and thus Iruka was wary of the girl.

Though if she had the likes of Hatake Kakashi as an escort and, apparently, tutor (and wasn’t that a kick since the other man kept failing his genin teams), then any harm she might cause Naruto would be stopped long before it happens.

So he’d trust her. For now.

If she made Naruto cry, he’d cut her.

Iruka shook his head as Teuchi greeted Naruto. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite customer! How’ve you been, Naruto?”

“Hiya, Teuchi-jiji, Ayame-nee-chan! I’m great!” Iruka ducked under the flaps and grinned at the sight of Naruto bouncing in his seat at the counter, grinning at the two Ichiraiku’s. “My latest prank’s planned and set for implementation, Iruka-sensei’s paying for ramen, and I even made a new friend today!" 

Iruka shook his head as he settled into the seat to Naruto’s right, Toshiro pushing herself into the seat to the blonde’s left. He ignored the fact that he had Kakashi on his own right, fighting down the slight flush that wanted to creep across the scarred bridge of his nose. Right now was not the time to act upon any crush he may or may not have on the silver-haired jounin. Besides, said jounin probably didn’t even feel the same way, so it was useless. Better to just, ignore the urges and focus on the present.

Iruka came back in as Ayame grinned at Naruto and said, “Oh really?”

Naruto nodded and said, “Toshiro-kun managed to find me while I was working on my stealth and trying to listen in on her conversation! No one’s ever managed to do that! And she’s really cool and can, like, freeze things and–“

Toshiro clapped a hand over Naruto’s mouth. “Naruto-kun, have you ever heard of discretion?” she asked, her tone mild. Iruka tried to smother a smile as she kept her hand over his mouth even as he nodded. “Perhaps this is the time to practice using it.” She then removed her hand and folded her arms onto the counter, staring at the menu. 

“Mou, Toshiro-kun,” Naruto pouted. Toshiro cut him a _look_ , raised eyebrow and everything. Iruka’s never seen his otouto drop a topic quicker, much less with a simple, “You’re no fun, dattebayo.” Naruto then turned back to the Ichiraiku’s and said, “Four large miso ramen, extra Narutomaki and Menma and double pork, please!”

Teuchi laughed and said, “Coming right up!”

Iruka shook his head, already mourning the loss of his recent paycheck, and leaned forward to catch Toshiro before she could say whatever she was planning to, because she was sure to try and say something about Naruto’s eating habits. Most people do. “When I said he nearly bankrupted me, it really was in one sitting. Four bowls is nothing to him.” He then looked at Ayame and said, “Large miso ramen, please." 

Ayame nodded, scribbling down his order before turning to Kakashi. “Your usual?” she asked, and received a cheerful nod in answer. “All right, one large shoyu ramen with double chicken and mushrooms, and you Toshiro-kun?”

Iruka watched Toshiro tilt her head, blink, and say, “Large miso with chashu pork, please. 

As Ayame took their orders back to Teuchi, Iruka heard Naruto say, “Oh yeah! I was gonna tell you about our classmates!”

“I’m not in your class yet, Naruto-kun. Technically I might not be, since I’m only there for graduation,” Toshiro drawled.

“Details! Anyway, so there’s kids from the shinobi Clans in the class, most of them heirs, and about twenty or so civilian-born students or orphans like me. Iruka-sensei could tell you more about skills and such, but I’ve memorized their personalities and habits, since I do that anyways. Most of the girls are all fangirls over one of the clan heirs, Uchiha Sasuke-teme. Only Hinata-chan, Hyuuga Clan’s heiress, isn’t like them. Even Ino-chan, the Yamanaka heiress, fawns all over the brooding teme!” Iruka shook his head with a small smile on his face as Naruto continued, “The other civilian boys either are arrogant, bullies, or have too weak of stomachs for the lifestyle but have stuck around because they get the theory. Surefire graduates are gonna be the clan kids, dattebayo. First, Sasuke-teme. He was okay when we started the Academy, a little quiet and holier-than-thou, but that I think he got from the rest of the Uchiha Clan, but then about five years ago he became a brooding bastard and was really cold afterwards. Arrogant to the max, and probably won’t know teamwork if it hit him in the face, but he’s got the Civilian Council on his side so he’s gonna be a genin anyways. Then there’s his two top fangirls, Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura. Ino-chan’s smart, good with jutsu, and knows how to handle her weapons, but she’s too caught up in the teme and is loud. Like, I know when to be quiet, but it’s like she doesn’t even know the meaning of the word.” Iruka raised an eyebrow and felt like nodding his head. Yeah, that sounded like Ino. “Sakura-chan’s the only civilian that has a chance of making genin, I think. Good with theory and chakra control, but yet again she lets her other skills slip because she’s too wrapped up in Sasuke. And they both diet when they don’t need to. Honestly, they might wind up killing themselves if they keep that up when they make genin.”

“I thought you liked Sakura-san, Naruto?” Iruka couldn’t help but ask, furrowing his eyebrows. He almost always tried asking the pink-haired girl out, so this was a surprise indeed.

Naruto shook his head. “If she ever let me finish, I’m asking her to lunch as a friend, not for a date. She can be nice, I know she can be, and I want to be her friend.” Naruto sighed and seemed to wilt slightly. “She just doesn’t want anything to do with me,” he muttered, glancing away. Iruka felt his heart pang, and was about to reach over and pat Naruto on the shoulder when Ayame returned and set Naruto’s bowls down in front of him.

“Four miso, extra Narutomaki and Menma, double pork! Enjoy, otouto,” Ayame sang, winking at Iruka as Naruto instantly perked up.

“Thanks, Ayame-nee-chan! Itaidakimasu!” Naruto cried out, cracking his chopsticks apart and digging into his ramen in his usual fashion. Iruka caught Toshiro’s eye over Naruto’s slightly hunched back, and just shook his head at her raised eyebrow. Nothing was going to slow Naruto down until he finished those bowls and had to wait for his next four.

• • •

Toshiro nibbled on a Narutomaki and hummed. It was hard to find this good of ramen in Seireitei. She might not be like her new blonde friend, but she enjoyed a bowl every once in a while. Once she was done with her Narutomaki, she turned to Naruto (wondering if he was actually named after the ramen topping) and asked, “So, what can you tell me about the others?”

Naruto slurped up the last of his noodles in his third bowl and tipped his head back. “Let’s see, Broody, Blondie, Pinky… There’s Aburame Shino, he’s really quiet, doesn’t know how to interact with people really. The Aburame specialize in these bug jutsu, so he has this hive of chakra-eating beetles living inside him called kikaichu. It’s kind of a symbiotic relationship, I think. Definitely would make a good tracker.” Naruto pulled his fourth bowl closer and nibbled on a Menma. “Inuzuka Kiba, another tracker. He’s a loudmouth prankster like me, and doesn’t have the best grades either, but they’re higher than mine. Inuzuka have these dog companions that fight with them, so they tend to have a pack mentality and enhanced sense of smells and hearing. Kiba’s ninken, Akamaru, is still a puppy, but they still can kick butt in the sparring ring more times than not.” Another pause to slurp down more noodles, which Toshiro took to do the same at a slower (and smaller) pace. “There’s Hyuuga Hinata-chan, the only girl in our class that doesn’t have a crush on Broody. She’s kind, and really good in taijutsu, but she doesn’t want to hurt anyone so she holds back. She also seems really nervous, and stutters a lot when she speaks. But her Clan has this ability that lets them see your chakra system, and their fighting style, from what I can tell, is designed to disable their opponents so they can’t use chakra.”

“Really? Interesting,” Toshiro mused, tapping her chopsticks onto the side of her bowl. She frowned down into her ramen. That would definitely be hard to counter, and who knows if they would be able to see the connection she had with Hyorinmaru.

“Yeah, but I bet Hinata-chan will be a kick-butt kunoichi in no time. She just needs a confidence boost!” Naruto grinned brightly, before going back to slurping down his noodles. Toshiro shook her head at him, munching on a piece of pork. She faltered when he just called out, “Four more bowls, please!” A flush rose on her cheeks as Iruka just chuckled at her.

Teuchi gave an affirmative just as Toshiro saw Iruka turn to Kakashi and squawk, “How do you keep doing that?!”

“Maa, Iruka-sensei, I need to keep some secrets, don’t I?”

“I just looked away a second ago!”

“Hm? Did you say something, Iruka-sensei?”

“I am not Gai-san, Kakashi-san.”

Toshiro shook her head at their antics and tuned her attention back to Naruto. “They sound like they’d make a nice team,” she said.

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. “Believe it! Now, who else… Oh yeah! There’s Akimichi Chouji, he’s kind hearted but can pack a wallop if he’s insulted. Akimichi tend to be big boned, and they use these techniques that require them to have a certain level of muscle-fat ratio, so the entire clan eats a lot. I can only out eat Chouji when it’s ramen on the line, otherwise he eats more than me!” Toshiro shivered at the thought of someone else demolishing the amount of food Naruto was. “But he’s really sweet, and lets me eat some of his chips, which I’m fairly certain is a sign of eternal friendship amongst his clan. After him, there’s Nara Shikamaru. He’s the lazy, sleep-through-class kind of genius. Most Nara are, from what I can tell. His clan specializes in shadow jutsu, and they also can think, like, thirty steps ahead of most others in games of strategy. Shika challenged me to a game of Shogi once, well as much as Shika ever challenges anyone, and trounced me in five minutes.” Naruto rubbed the back of his head and gave a sheepish smile. “But I’ve gotten to the point where he needs half an hour to beat me, so I think I’m getting better at it.” Toshiro caught the way Iruka’s head snapped around so he could stare at Naruto in shock, and filed the reaction away.

“So, who’d you say you’re friends with?” she asked, hoping that there were some people at least. He seemed so lonely.

“Shika and Chouji, definitely,” Naruto said immediately. “Kiba’s okay, I can pull pranks with him, but I like spending time with Akamaru more. I’m friendly with Hinata-chan, but she has a tendency of turning red and fainting whenever I talk to her, I don’t know why, it doesn’t happen when anyone else talks to her. And I’d like to be friends with Sakura-chan, but she keeps hitting me when I’m nice to her, so I don’t know.”

CRACK!

Toshiro pasted on a smile that she knew would have served better on Unohana-taicho’s face than hers as she set down the chopsticks she snapped and reached for a new pair. “She hits you when you’re just being nice?” she asked, and yep, that was Unohana-taicho’s scary-calm voice. She’d wonder when she picked it up, but she knew how many times it was used on her so she wouldn’t aggravate injuries. Toshiro knew she was as bad as the Eleventh Division when it came to staying in the Fourth. It was no wonder that she picked up on some of Unohana-taicho’s tactics when really angry.

Naruto had this slightly wary look on his face, and only said, “Toshiro. Summer. Not supposed to be this cold.”

She forced deep breaths through her lungs, and slowly the temperature rose again. “Apologies, that reacts to strong emotions. I’ve been trying to control it for a couple years now,” she said, scary smile still on her face, and turned back to her, now chilled, bowl.

Toshiro almost thought it tasted better colder. Naruto was looking at her like she had grown a second head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, everyone, who has read and commented on this fic! The comments always brighten my day.
> 
> Tell me what you think! I have more where this comes from!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshiro does the impossible and gets Naruto to eat his veggies. After cleaning out his apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance for everyone who is waiting to see Toshiro beat down Sakura. You guys still have one more chapter after this before that happens. Though that might not be a good thing for Sakura, since that means Toshiro gets time to stew on her anger...
> 
> Thank you all who have commented thus far! I smile like an idiot each time I read them!
> 
> Now then: onto further Toshiro/Naruto bonding! And Toshiro wanting to steal the future Team 10...

Toshiro glanced around the street, one eyebrow firmly curved towards her hairline. This looked eerily like the areas in the Rukongai where the brothels were. Naruto lived here? That’s such a bad idea for a kid to grow up in such an area. Who let this happen? She then turned her attention to the only apartment building on the street, which Naruto was leading her to. It looked old, decrepit, and most importantly, abandoned. Where were the other occupants? Did Naruto live here as the sole tenant? Yet another thing that’s bad for a child to go through, being alone for long periods of time.

She stopped just outside the door to the apartment that Naruto lived in, and bit her bottom lip as she realized something important. This… this must be the only place where he could be himself. Maybe she should find somewhere else…

“Eh? Toshiro-kun, what’s wrong?” Naruto asked, turning back to her and tilting his head.

Toshiro shook her head. “I– While I appreciate your willingness to allow me to stay for the foreseeable future, Naruto-kun, this is clearly your only safe haven. I– I wouldn’t wish to intrude.” She met his eyes, only find a serious expression on his face. Toshiro stayed very still and let Naruto stare, process her words, and search for truthfulness in them. She knew how important having a space where one could be themselves without anyone else watching, and how much she hated having anyone intrude upon that space. But she wasn’t Naruto, who seemed to cling to her as quickly as she latched onto him in this strange new world she had to hide in, and thus she didn’t know how he’d react to someone who was practically a stranger being allowed inside his safe space. Especially if any of the villagers had snuck in before, to either harm him or trash the place.

Something told her they have. Several times.

“Ne, it’s fine, Toshiro-kun,” he finally said, a soft smile on his face. “Better than sleeping in the same apartment as a paranoid pervert like Kashi-nii. Besides,” he tilted his head, “it kinda feels like I’ve known you for years, even though it’s just been a few hours.”

Tension that Toshiro didn’t even know she felt seeped out of her shoulders, and she finally stepped over the threshold and pulled off her boots. “Good, because that feeling’s not one sided,” she said, a slight smile on her lips. She felt warmth seep into her bones at the bright smile, which looked completely natural for once, Naruto sent her way. Toshiro averted her gaze before she could start blushing, and took in the state of the apartment behind her new friend. She blinked at the motes of dust in the air, and the almost inch thick layer of the stuff in some places. A quick sweep of her eyes around the living and kitchen area showed that the dust was a common thing unless it was on frequently-used areas, and that he apparently had trouble getting the trash out, because that looked like a mountain of used instant ramen cups with what might be a trashcan buried underneath it. Toshiro blinked again before returning her eyes to Naruto, who had moved off to a small closet, probably looking for a futon or some blankets for her to use. This was… almost unacceptable. Hyorinmaru rumbled in the back of her mind, agreeing with the thought.

She stepped further into the apartment and looked around, finding a door into a small bedroom that looked relatively more cleaner than the rest of the space, and another leading into a small, cramped bathroom. Yeesh, she had more room back in the Tenth Division barracks than in this entire apartment. The one bit of life, besides Naruto himself, appeared to be a few plants that she could just barely see from inside his bedroom. Toshiro frowned. That might just be a safety measure, making sure that everything you care about is safe in one space that not many would try and get to it. She wouldn’t be shocked if there were traps set up around the door to ensure no one unauthorized were allowed inside the room. It would certainly make sense, since there didn’t seem to be any safety measures on the main door, unless he managed to take those down without her notice. He called Kakashi paranoid, but something told Toshiro that it was a shinobi thing.

She’d fit right in, then. Being around people whose job it was to investigate anything and everything for over a century and a half brewed quite the unhealthy streak of paranoia in her cold little heart.

But first.

“Hey, Naruto-kun? I think your apartment could do with a late-spring cleaning, don’t you?”

“Eh?!”

• • •

Three hours later, Naruto finally sat down at the clean kitchen table, watching as the slave driver, I mean, Toshiro looked around the apartment and nodded her head, apparently pleased with the progress they made. His apartment wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination sparkling, but it most certainly was better than Naruto had ever seen it since he moved in. The floor actually looked like it was wood, they found out his walls were supposed to be white after moving the couch, and all the dust that got in his nose was wiped away. His mountain of piled-up trash was dealt with in a swift fashion that made Naruto ask why he even waited this long to throw it away in the first place, which was added to as Toshiro swept through his kitchen and removed anything she deemed to have been expired and thus not to be eaten. How his nose hadn’t noticed any of that, he was still asking himself. He was just glad that she hadn’t touched his supply of ramen; that was all he was able to afford!

Okay, so he might be mentally complaining, but to be honest he was so glad that he tried to listen in on Toshiro and Kashi-nii’s conversation. She was turning out to be the best thing since Naruto was transferred into Iruka-sensei’s class at the Academy, and thus met his favorite teacher/brother figure. Kashi-nii was family, too, but only whenever he had on his ANBU mask, or whenever Kashi-nii snuck into the apartment during the night to stock up Naruto’s basic supplies that he couldn’t afford at the stores. Or to leave behind those icky vegetables. But neither Iruka-sensei or Kashi-nii could do anything openly besides occasionally calling him otouto and being nice to him. Or Kashi-nii being a creeper with the rest of the ANBU, even when he was relieved of duty. Toshiro wasn’t limited in her behavior towards him like they were. She was new to the village, and so didn’t know the stigma against interacting with the blonde. She got angry whenever the villagers glared at him, or when she heard about Sakura-chan’s abuse. He heard everything that she said after mentioning something about ratios, and could only guess what the cold girl had gone through that made her understand him without even having met him at that point. She even respected that his apartment was a safe space for him, where he could go to get away from the villagers and not have to wear his mask. She was super cool, pretty, and even though she talked like one of the adults she didn’t react badly when he brought up his pranking at Ichiraiku’s. Hell, she didn’t really react at all beyond lifting an eyebrow and smirking.

He thinks that meant she was amused. After trying to read the teme’s features for five years, Naruto’s fairly certain he could read cold and indifferent expressions.

Naruto blinked out of his thoughts as Toshiro turned to face him. “Okay, now that this place looks somewhat livable, you need more food than just ramen. Eating that all the time, which from the amount of trash we just threw out I assume you did, has certainly done nothing for how undernourished you are.” Naruto stared blankly at her, not getting what she was trying to say. Toshiro sighed and rolled her eyes. “That effected your growth rate. Not eating right is why you’re so,” she shivered and grit the last word out through her teeth, “short.”

He tilted his head and let a sly smirk cross his lips. “Don’t like the word?”

“Not particularly,” Toshiro drawled, before pinning him with a look. “Now, food. The ramen cups will stick around for back-up meals, because what I’m planning will only work for a short time frame before word about me gets out, so your precious will be safe.” Naruto felt his shoulders relax at that. Heretics won’t throw out his wonderful, godly ramen! “How much money do you still have in your allowance?”

Naruto hummed and reached for his Gama-chan. He poked at the ryo still inside his little frog wallet, and said, “Um, about fifty-five hundred ryo. But that’s barely enough to get a weeks worth of ramen at the store?”

Toshiro sighed and rubbed at a temple, seeming to think about her words. “Isn’t there, I don’t know, some technique that shinobi use that could make you appear to be someone you’re not?”

Naruto blinked, and face-palmed. “I’m so stupid,” he moaned, realizing he could have used henge while he was shopping. “I’d just have to find some way to cover my whiskers, I still have trouble making those disappear… Wait, what does that have to do with anything?” he asked, looking back up at Toshiro, who was holding a hand out.

“Well, if the villagers hate you as much as they appear to, wouldn’t it be within the realm of possibility that they would charge you more for food?” she asked as if it were the simplest idea ever. Naruto moaned again and let his head fall onto the table. “Hey, you’re not stupid. You just needed to either step back from the problem, or have an outside source to point it out to you. Now, may I?”

He didn’t even bother raising his head, just lifted Gama-chan up and let him fall into her waiting hand. “Just, try to not drain Gama-chan,” he mumbled, feeling like an utterly shitty shinobi. Honestly, it made so much sense that he’d be overpriced. Why hadn’t it occurred to him until this wonderful person came into his life? Granted, he didn’t really know why he was so universally hated, but considering that fact, of course stall owners and grocers would double or triple charge him.

“Don’t worry, Gama-chan will still be plenty fat when I get back,” Toshiro said, and patted him on the head. Naruto closed his eyes and listened as the younger girl stepped into her boots and silently left his apartment. Maybe he’d take a page out of Shikamaru’s book and take a nap. Something told him that she’d be a while.

• • •

When the door opened about an hour and a half later, Naruto was shocked at the amount of food that Toshiro was carrying. And then she said, “Well, don’t just sit there looking surprised! There’s more bags out on the balcony, these are just the things that need to get into the fridge quickly.”

Naruto scrambled out of his chair and looked out the door. Sure enough, there were at least ten, maybe twenty more bags sitting outside his door. He felt his heart stop, mourning Gama-chan’s probable state even as he scooped up a good five bags in each hand and trod inside. Maybe that’s why his eyes bugged out when he saw that Gama-chan only looked a little less full than when he handed the wallet off. “How did you get so much food? It looks like you barely spent any money!” he asked in wonder, dropping off the bags he was carrying.

“I’ll explain once everything’s inside, okay?”

He nodded, and quickly went back to grab the rest of the bags. There was no way she had carried all of these at the same time, especially the one bag with what looked like a knife block and a standard skillet and wok inside it. She must be really fast, and quiet, too! Naruto kicked his door closed and set the remaining bags down on the floor, just as Toshiro put the milk and eggs in the fridge. “All right, spill. How did you do this?” He set his hands on his hips, praying that he didn’t hear any tales about blatant theft. He doubted it, but that was the only explanation he could come up with for how she had spent so little money on so much food.

“Well,” she started, sliding what looked like a package of meat into the fridge before closing the door, “I was right. You were being massively overcharged if that total amount was barely enough to cover your ramen. Standard price for those cups are only ten ryo* per package. All told, I spent maybe five hundred ryo, not bad really.” She looked towards Naruto and pushed her bangs away from her eyes. “Though I might have managed to manipulate the stall workers into giving me lower prices. And the mutt paid for some of the food, too. You know, since I’m under his care and all that. But the manipulation helped a fair amount.” Naruto raised an eyebrow, and watched as all of a sudden Toshiro’s whole demeanor changed. Where she had been standing proudly since he’d first seen her, she seemed to curl in on herself, and stood much like Hinata-chan would, her expression timid. “Well, you see, I just came here, and don’t really have much. I need at least four, but I still need to get a lot of other stuff, so I don’t think I can afford it,” she said, her voice softer and higher pitched, trembling just enough to give off the impression that she was nervous around other people. And like a switch, Toshiro was back to the proud girl he knew her as. “And sure enough, I got more than what I asked for at a cheaper price. Though, as stated, it won’t work for very long.”

Naruto stared at her, a grin stretching across his face. “That is so cool! Can you teach me how to do that?”

Toshiro chuckled a little, a mischievous spark in her emerald eyes. “I thought manipulation was something all shinobi had to do? You seemed to understand the basics, from what I saw of your interactions with Iruka-sensei.” He felt a flush rise in his cheeks, and forced out a strangled laugh while rubbing the back of his head. He did do that, didn’t he? She shrugged. “But sure thing, kid. I’ll give you some pointers. Now, do you have a stool or something? The cup ramen’s gonna have to move to the top shelf to make room for everything.”

• • •

Toshiro stood on the seat of the sturdier of the kitchen chairs, shuffling the various food items that she bought around as Naruto passed them up to her. Once all of the dried goods was packed away, she hopped down off the chair and grabbed one of the bags she got from the vegetable stall for half their listed price. She caught sight of Naruto scrunching up his nose, and asked, “What?”

“Did you have to get the icky veggies?” he grumbled, picking up the other two bags of fresh vegetables.

“Yes. Eating ramen all the time isn’t healthy, Naruto-kun, I told you this already. There’s too much sodium and carbohydrates and not enough protein or vitamins. Even for someone who burns calories at a faster rate, you need more than that to actually be healthy. Besides,” she smirked and set her bag onto the counter, “you’ll be singing a different tune after you try my stir-fry. Now, would you be so kind as to put the watermelon on the counter over there while I place what I don’t need for dinner in the fridge?” Naruto looked at her oddly, nodding as he set the bags in his arms on the counter beside her. Toshiro hummed as she put various vegetables and fruits away. She was on cloud nine at the thought of having some of that wonderful melon goodness for dessert, they had just gone in season when she had to leave. It was a very good thing that the time zones were mirrored, otherwise she’d be mentally cursing the air blue.

“What the– This thing’s huge!” Naruto cried out.

Toshiro turned and smiled at the boy, who was holding the watermelon that was easily twice the size of his head like it weighed half its weight. “Eh, that should last me two days, less if you want any,” she said off-handedly, waving a hand slightly. “Set it down and tell me more about your friends. Something tells me that I might get along with them.”

Naruto grunted as he carefully set the watermelon down on the counter, staring at it like he’d never seen one before. “Yeah, sure…” He then looked over at her, looked back at the watermelon, and said, “This is your Ichiraiku Ramen, isn’t it?” Toshiro smiled sweetly while reaching for one of the new knives. Naruto sighed. “Fine, just leave enough for me to try. I’ve never been allowed to have any before.”

Her eyebrow twitched at the comment, but Toshiro managed to hold in any outward signs of her anger. “Agreed. Your friends?”

Naruto hopped onto the chair still by the counter and tipped his head back. “Well, I don’t really know what else to tell you about Shika and Chouji. Fairly certain that you’d just have to, I don’t know, meet them to really know.” She saw out of the corner of her eye his head tip to the side. “If Shika has a Shogi board out, he might be willing to play with you. Or Go, he enjoys that one, too. He has a tendency of not eating, which with practically the entire Akimichi Clan pushing food on him is a really big thing, and a clan verbal tic he has is saying the word troublesome. Chouji’s favorite food is barbeque, he always has plenty of snacks on his person, and is really easy to talk with. A lot of people picked on him because he’s big-boned, mostly kids from the civilian families who don’t know about the Akimichi jutsu’s. Word of caution, the word ‘fat’ and any other derivative is considered taboo whenever in the presence of an Akimichi, especially Chouji. That tends to drive him to the point of physically lashing out at the person who breathes the word. Big boned is as close a derivative as is allowed, and even then use it sparingly.”

Toshiro hummed. “Are they any good at gathering information, or maybe disseminating what they are given?”

“Um, I think so. Them and Ino are bound to be on the same team because of their families, and Ino is a gossip hound. And even if it looks like he’s sleeping, many times Shika’s not, and actually is observing his surroundings. When it comes to Chouji, he’s a mix between observing others and being able to keep the other two levelheaded and focused. I don’t know what ‘disseminating’ means, but between the three of them they could create any number of possible connections or end results depending on the information they’ve received.”

Toshiro wished she had these kids in Tenth Division. Badly.

Instead of voicing the unfairness of life, she simply said, “Yes, that’s essentially what disseminating means. Additionally, it is also creating compilations of the information received and summarizing them for the ease of others understanding. For instance, when you told me about the rumors surrounding myself, you disseminated all the information you received from listening to various conversations and sources, and gave a punctual summary of the whole picture that was produced.” Toshiro finished sorting out the ingredients needed for the stir-fry and turned the faucet on to begin washing the vegetables. “I’m shocked you brought up Yamanaka-san, I thought you were not close with her?”

“Well, yeah, but she also doesn’t really bother me or put me down. She’s more focused on how popular she is, instead of making fun of the Dead Last,” Naruto said plainly, leaving Toshiro to have the very difficult job of not freezing the water solid in the pipes from her spike of annoyance at the stupidity of the living.

“Dead Last?” she asked, trying to steer clear of any topics that might set her off, and getting the feeling that she was walking through a field rigged to the gills with traps.

“Yeah, I’ve got the lowest grades in the class overall. That’s just the nickname given to the last person in the rankings. Anyway, Ino-chan doesn’t bother me, I don’t bother her, the only time we intersect is when I’m trying to spar with Sasuke-teme and she’s at the height of her fangirl mode. Or if she gets caught in one of my pranks, which only happened once and I’m shocked I don’t have a permanent bruise from how hard she slapped me.”

“Was she your intended target?”

“No. One of the old gossip mongers knocked me into a trash can and then yelled at me for ruining her skirt. I was trying to get revenge on her by dumping a can of paint on her head, but didn’t foresee anyone but my target getting caught.” She could practically see his shrug. “That was early in my pranking days, even before the Academy. I learned from the mistake and took measures to ensure no one but the target trips the trap.”

“Still, that was impressive. And good that you learn from your mistakes.”

“Wouldn’t know that if you looked at my grades,” he grumbled. Toshiro turned the tap off and turned to look at him, setting the last vegetable down on a towel with the rest.

“Well, what do they focus on more: theory, or practical application?”

Naruto rubbed the top of his head. “Theory, which is kinda stupid. I mean, we won’t be able to stop another ninja by droning on about the theory behind chakra or something like that. Well, maybe you could, if you aimed to bore them to death, but they’d probably kill you before that happened, so there’s no point.” He then ticked off a second finger and added, “What’s more, everything’s taught in lectures and book reading, ensuring that kinetic learners get the lowest grades. When combined with how theory-slanted the curriculum is, anyone who does better in the practical application scores lower as well, unless they also have a good grasp of the theory. Pretty much ensuring that the Rookie and Kunoichi of the year are good theory-based shinobi, but probably can’t handle the physical aspects of the lifestyle.”

Toshiro raised an eyebrow and stared at Naruto for a good minute, causing her new friend to start squirming. In an amazed voice, she said, “You know, that happy-go-lucky idiot mask you have can be really deceiving if this is the type of opinion you have of how the Academy is run. I knew it was a mask and yet I’m still surprised.”

Naruto flushed and scratched uneasily at the bridge of his nose, a sheepish smile on his face. “Well, it was easier acting the idiot. Besides, I know that I don’t know much about the theory, and as interesting as Iruka-sensei’s lectures are, I can barely understand what he’s talking about half the time. I also know I pick up more when I’m involved in the process. From there, and watching how Kiba struggled with the same issues to a certain degree, it was easy to tell the problem.”

Toshiro shook her head and turned back to making their dinner. So many layers to her new friend’s bright mind. She couldn’t wait to explore them further.

• • •

Fighting the urge to bash Naruto’s head into a wall, Toshiro watched as he poked at the sugar snap peas mixed in with the broccoli, carrots, and beef strips that sat on top of his bowl of brown rice. She knew one of her eyes was twitching from how hesitant he was about the vegetables, but also knew better than to try and force him into eating anything he didn’t want to. Instead, she ate her own meal as calmly as she could, watching as he slowly pierced a pea pod and brought it to his nose. She raised an eyebrow at how he sniffed it before blinking and putting it in his mouth, chewing slowly with a look of shock and wonder in his bright blue eyes. He swallowed down his mouthful and stared at the bowl for ten seconds. The process was repeated with both the broccoli and carrot, before those eyes were turned onto her. Toshiro stared at him as he remained silent.

She didn’t receive any incredulous questions, or any further looks. He just quietly ate his, admittedly large, bowl of stir-fry slowly and without complaint.

Toshiro counted it as a win. Even more so when he happily chowed down on a quarter of the watermelon with her about twenty minutes later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you guys think! I've got more where this comes from!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kakashi gets drunk and Toshiro makes friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gai is such a good friend. But I can't really write his personality very well. So if he seems a little OOC or not as exuberant, that is the reason for it.

•Six Days Later•

Kakashi left the Hokage Tower in a daze. He just finished his daily report regarding Toshiro’s progress, and had done something he had sworn he would never do. Something he swore he would defect, or follow his father’s footsteps, if he was ever forced to. To be truthful, he wasn't sure that this decision he just made wasn't what Hokage-sama had planned for when he assigned Kakashi to his terrifying, intelligent, cold, and sarcastic student.

He needed to get drunk.

So he sought out Gai.

He found the Green Beast of Konoha performing cool down warm ups, probably long after he had dismissed his genin team. Good, no one else here to see Kakashi on the verge of a meltdown. “Gai, you now have plans for the night,” he called out as he strode into his friend’s view.

Gai looked up from his stretches, and grinned. “Ah, my most youthful rival, greetings! I did not realize the future jounin instructor drinking binge was tonight!”

“That’s not what I meant, Gai,” Kakashi said, and something in either his tone or his body language must have tipped Gai off, because the green clad man straightened and gained a concerned look on his stupid face.

“Kakashi, is everything all right?”

The silver haired jounin breathed deeply, before stating, “Gai, I need to get drunk.”

“My most youthful rival, what happened? Not even when you are forced to test a genin team do you react as such.”

“Gai,” Kakashi stressed the other man’s name and looked him in the eye, “I’ve done something I swore I would never do. I need you to get me drunk.”

Gai blinked and soon looked very thoughtful. It was an odd look on Kakashi’s most stubborn friend. “There were many things, my friend. Have you taken Hokage-sama’s offer to–“

"No," he said.

"Taken a mission that would take you close to-"

Kakashi just shook his head, which seemed to prompt Gai to think back to the various things Kakashi swore he'd never do.

"Have you gone back to ANBU? My friend, you know exactly what they will do once you rejoin-"

“I requested to take on an apprentice, Gai,” Kakashi cut him off.

That seemed to get the severity of the situation through to the Green Beast, even if he was left standing there blinking incredulously at Kakashi. The silver haired jounin fought the urge to fidget under his friend’s gaze. He got a sinking feeling in his gut when Gai just grinned, something about it seeming either mischievous, or evil. “Oh, my eternal rival, we shall make this an event! You find Kurenai and Asuma, I’ll grab Anko, and we'll meet at the usual bar.”

Kakashi was so far gone in I-need-alcohol that he just said, “The only condition is that they have to buy me two drinks. I don’t want to remember tonight,” without contemplating the potential fall out this could cause.

• • •

Toshiro rolled her eyes as Naruto dragged her out of their still-shared one bedroom apartment, blathering something about celebrating. Well, she supposed she could understand. She caught up with the graduates even faster than she expected. Most everything from the textbooks she remembered from her stint in the Second Division as a young unseated Shinigami, and the kawarimi and henge, while she had trouble at first, were very easy to adapt to allow her to utilize them. It was just the stupid bunshin that was giving her problems, another thing she shared with her new friend it seemed.

So maybe there was something to celebrate.

It took some cajoling, but she managed to get Naruto to agree to something other than ramen for dinner, a feat that she managed for the past six days, well, beyond apparently getting one of the pickiest eaters she’s ever seen to eat everything she cooked for him. Now, they were heading to, apparently, the only other restaurant that allowed Naruto to not only set foot through the doors, but eat the same quality food as the rest of the customers: Akimichi Barbeque. She’d say it might have had something to do with Naruto’s friendship with the heir, but apparently they were nice even before he met this Chouji, so there went that theory. It probably had something to do with those noticeable holes in the history books that she had noticed, especially regarding Konoha's long time ally.

Once inside the restaurant, Naruto perked up and gave the same grin he had when they met Iruka for lunch that first day. “Awesome, Shika and Chouji are here, too! Hm, maybe the Akimichi stole Shika to try and get him to eat more. It wouldn't surprise me.”

“It’s that bad?” she asked as she followed him over toward one of the tables close to a corner full of red heads eating more food than she thought possible.

“I can easily hold his wrist between my thumb and forefinger, Shiro,” Naruto said, holding up his hand as visible reference. “Now come on, it looks like they have open seats at their table.” With that, Naruto grabbed her wrist and began leading the way to a table with a boy similar looking to those in the corner, whom she assumed must be Chouji, and a boy with black hair that reminded her of Abarai-fukutaicho’s that had a Shogi board in front of him. “Hey, Shika, Chouji!”

“Naruto!” the bigger boy happily cried out, waving a hand. “Whoa, who’s your friend there?”

Toshiro let Naruto bounce over, dragging her behind, and say, “This is Toshiro, she’s gonna be graduating with us and just managed to catch up with the class today. Toshiro, this is Akimichi Chouji and Nara Shikamaru, my friends from class that I told you about."

She gave a small smile. “It is a pleasure to meet the friends that Naruto-kun spoke so highly of,” she said, her voice much quieter than Naruto’s. She then turned her gaze to the Shogi board, and thus the boy sitting on the other side of it. “Naruto-kun said you play?”

Shikamaru slid his gaze up to meet Toshiro’s, and after a beat sighed. “Yeah, I do.”

She felt her smile tilt into a smirk. “How about a game?”

Shikamaru studied her for a minute, before he sat up and said, “Sure. Been a while since I’ve played someone other than Tou-san.”

• • •

Kakashi had his head on the bar, five empty glasses resting nearby, with Asuma puffing away on his sixth cigarette on one side and Kurenai looking at him worriedly on the other. He didn’t even perk up as he heard Gai, Anko, and, oh Kami, why did they bring Ibiki? There was no way he was going to hear the end of this now. He simply turned his head so he could look at them without moving, and watched as the three came up to where they were in the bar.

Anko was shaking her head, and whistled when she caught sight of Kakashi. “Damn, scarecrow, you really need help, don’t you?” she asked in her loud voice as usual, prompting a whimper to tear from his throat. He was already buzzed, he was allowed to drop some of his inhibitions for now. “Tch,” she said, before leaning over the bar to catch the bartender’s attention. “Round for all of us, two for the silver-haired idiot,” she ordered, circling a finger to identify the whole group.

Ibiki leaned against the bar and looked at Kakashi. “Please tell me you didn’t take on who I think you did,” he simply said.

Kakashi blinked, and said, “It’s exactly who you think it is.”

Ibiki stared much like he had at Inoichi when the blonde tried to explain Toshiro’s dead-but-not-dead status, sighed, and grabbed his drink only to slug it back. “Damn it, Kakashi. Why apprentice that one?”

Everyone who was taking a drink—or inhaling smoke in Asuma’s case—choked. Rather spectacularly.

“Because she’s amazing. And terrifying. And I want to teach her everything I know,” he listed off in a slightly dreamy voice, catching all the others attention.

Anko blinked, and seemed to realize just who they were talking about. “Wait, that little brat?! The one that turned one of our interrogation chambers into a freezer just because Ibiki nearly fondled her sword?! There’s still icicles hanging in the corners!”

Kakashi just nodded as well as his position allowed him to.

Gai patted Kakashi heartily on the back. “Well, my eternal rival, which young Konoha blossom have you taken on as your most youthful apprentice?”

“Hitsugaya Toshiro,” Kakashi groaned out, moving his head to rest his chin on the bar top and reaching for one of his drinks. "She's new, hasn't been in-village that long."

That seemed to catch the cute teacher Naruto called a big brother’s attention from where he was sitting on the other side of Asuma. Kakashi guessed that Iruka-sensei was here trying to drink himself under the table because of Naruto’s most recent prank—it had to be the blonde, who else would set glitter bombs inside of the Council chamber to be set off in the middle of a session? Iruka-sensei turned and asked, “Wait, Naruto’s little friend from lunch six days ago?”

All the other jounin must be staring at Iruka-sensei, but Kakashi simply glanced his way and drawled, “That would be the one. Though I would recommend never calling her little. She can kick my ass across a training field. Has, once, because I called her Toshiro-chan.”

Iruka-sensei stared, blinked, and downed his own drink. “Okay,” he croaked, sidling closer to Asuma. “What stupidity have you done instead of doing your mission reports?”

“Took her as my apprentice despite swearing never to take one,” Kakashi grumbled out, levering himself high enough that he could quickly whip his mask down, drain his glass, and bring it firmly back up. It took maybe a second, not long enough for the others to see more than a glimpse of pale skin. Despite being buzzed, Kakashi had had a lot of practice at that. “She caught up with your students, sensei. In six days. She still needs help in taijutsu, but that was going to take time anyways. The one thing she flat out can’t do jutsu wise is the bunshin, and I’m seriously contemplating teaching both her and Naruto the Kage Bunshin, they both have the same problem with the regular ones.”

“But that’s a high level technique!” Kurenai yelped, staring at Kakashi like he had a second head. At this point, he wasn’t too sure he didn’t have one.

“They both have too much chakra for anything below C-rank jutsu. They twisted the henge to use more chakra, and Toshiro did the same to kawarimi,” Kakashi informed the gathered jounin and singular chuunin, before gulping down his second drink. "Took two times before she could perform the technique, all sealless I might add, and I'm fairly certain she's piecing together the shunshin just from watching me use it."

Iruka-sensei gaped at Kakashi, before shaking his head. “What’s the price for this information?”

Asuma patted the little sensei on the shoulder. “Two drinks for the idiot,” he said around his, seventh? Eighth? Kakashi lost count how many cigarettes his fellow future jounin instructor’s gone through. He figured Kurenai was keeping track.

“I think I can do that, as long as no one wants top shelf,” Iruka-sensei sighed, leaning over the bar enough to see the rest of the group. “So, tell us about my little brother’s new friend. All I know is that she’s an amazing cook and managed to get Naruto to eat his vegetables.”

Kakashi let his head thunk onto the bar again. Of course his cute apprentice managed something he’d been trying for years.

• • •

“How did you do that?!” Toshiro watched, amused, as Shikamaru gaped at the Shogi board between them. “I’m the one who beats people in five minutes! You– How?!”

“Simple.” Toshiro played the game in reverse seven moves back. “When you moved this piece here, you created a small enough opening here, which I took advantage of. If you have moved this piece here,” she arranged the pieces as she explained, “you might have been able to beat me in five moves.”

“Dattebayo,” she heard from Naruto, this one sounding very confused and worried. He still didn’t get the finer points of the game.

“But then you could have done this, and I’d have still lost,” Shikamaru said, moving the piece he was talking about.

Toshiro nodded her head. “There would be a possibility for failure on your end if I did that move. However, if you then did this, I did this, and you moved that,” she quickly played the game to a finish where Shikamaru would have won. “Of course, I could also have done this,” she moved the pieces back and showed a different set of moves and maneuvers, leading to another game won in Shikamaru’s favor. “However, since you moved here, and I moved here,” she brought the game back to the original moves made, “it would be harder to accomplish, but you could have beat me if you had done this,” she played the game forward, making Shikamaru’s pieces block hers and push a single piece forward through her traps and defenses. “And there, you won the game,” she said, sitting back and reaching for her chopsticks. She quickly ate two slices of pork as Shikamaru stared at the board unblinkingly.

An older version of Shikamaru sat down next to the boy and rubbed at his chin, staring at the board as well. Toshiro raised an eyebrow at his presence, but kept quiet. The elder Nara looked up into her eyes and asked, “Reset the match to my son’s mistake?” Toshiro blinked, and did as requested, placing her piece through his opening. So this was the infamous Nara Clan head that Shikamaru had said she needed to play in the middle of their five-minute game. The elder stared at the board for several minutes, which she took to eat her meal, before reaching out and moving a piece that Toshiro hadn’t thought of using to protect Shikamaru’s king.

It was her turn to gape and blink down at the board. She shaped up and routed out any ideas on how to get around the piece, staring at the board for ten minutes before making her move, which was quickly intercepted by a piece laying in wait.

She quickly found herself on the receiving end of a losing game that actually made her think harder than she had since her last investigation into whether the Twelfth Division researchers were following the rules of conduct. She stared down at the board and found herself in a situation she couldn’t get out of, and knew she would lose in three moves. Toshiro looked up and almost glared at the elder Nara’s grinning face. Instead, she simply asked, “When would be a good time for a proper game, Nara-sama?”

The elder Nara waved the name away. “Shikaku, please, and none of that sama shit. And I do believe my next Saturday is open, miss…?”

“Hitsugaya Toshiro,” she said, holding out her hand over the board. Shikaku’s lip quirked up.

“Ah, the infamous Hitsugaya-san that has the majority of T&I cursing your name. They still haven’t completely thawed out that interrogation room. Inoichi is prone to flinching and curling up in a corner whenever your name is mentioned,” Shikaku said, a smirk sliding into place. “It is an honor to meet the one who caused that reaction in my old teammate.”

“Oh, he does, does he? By any chance, do you know how many times he’s said those two words when he spoke of me?”

“Seven, I do believe, Hitsugaya-san,” Shikaku informed her as he leaned back.

Toshiro sighed, ignoring how the three boys were staring at her oddly. “Shame. Now I’m going to have to fracture something. If he’d just said it one more time, he could have gotten away with a concussion, but now he said it twenty-one times.”

Shikaku threw his head back and laughed. Shikamaru was staring at her like she was a new puzzle for him to solve. Chouji looked a little off-put at the off-handed way Toshiro brought up breaking someone’s bone. And Naruto was just shaking his head at her. He’d been there for her training sessions with Kakashi every day after the Academy, and thus was used to her threatening bodily harm onto others. Though normally, it was the mutt.

Toshiro bowed her head as Shikaku gathered himself once more, and said, “Next Saturday it is, then, Shikaku-san. I look forward to it.”

• • •

The next morning found Iruka to be the only one out of the group who drank with Kakashi not with a hangover (thank Kami for medical ninjutsu training) while standing in the Hokage’s office. He remembered some of what Kakashi said about young Toshiro last night, but much of it didn’t make sense and was muddled by the drinks. He woke up in his own bed with a note on his bedside table to make it to the Hokage’s office by seven the next morning. And thus, here he was, standing with a group of jounin that would have scared him if he hadn’t already cowed most of them into submission in the Mission Room countless times and waiting for the Hokage to stop glaring at a strangely sheepish Hatake Kakashi. Since they had to be here, Iruka assumed that something of what Kakashi said last night was a highly confidential secret that most certainly was way above Iruka’s pay grade.

Damn sexy scarecrow. He just wanted to drink away his annoyance (and pride, there most certainly was pride there) at his little brother’s antics!

“Ibiki, why did you not attempt to stop Kakashi from giving as much information as he reportedly did to the others?” Hokage-sama finally asked.

The scarred T&I head just shrugged. “Because they’d have questions regarding the brat eventually, and the best way to keep a secret is to share it with those who would be deeply involved and know how to keep their traps shut. The instructor was allowed to hear this considering how close the brat and Uzumaki have reportedly gotten.” Ibiki didn’t even quail under the strong glare he received from Hokage-sama, and something told Iruka that those bits and pieces he could remember not making sense might have actually been true.

But they couldn’t be. He clearly remembered Kakashi and Ibiki arguing about whether or not Toshiro was alive or dead, or somehow both at the same time.

Hokage-sama heaved a dragon-esque sigh and flashed through the hand seals required to seal the room. Oh dear, this was definitely above Iruka’s pay grade. What had he stepped into this time? Hokage-sama leveled serious looks to all those assembled before his desk, and quietly stated, “The information you are about to receive is to not leave this room. Is that understood?”

“Hai, Hokage-sama,” Iruka said in chorus with the jounin, really worried about what he got himself into.

“Hitsugaya Toshiro arrived in Konoha six days ago, around four-hundred hours, through some kind of gate in the middle of this office,” Hokage-sama said, freezing everyone in place. “All ANBU present can attest to this, along with Kakashi, who was on duty that day as trade off for taking on a team. She was detained, and apparently immune to genjutsu after Kakashi attempted to use a standard sleep genjutsu on her. Afterward, she was taken to T&I to be interrogated by Ibiki. Yamanaka Inoichi was on standby to enter her mind if the situation called for it, which eventually occurred. Once he entered her mind, he found the means by which she is immune to genjutsu: apparently, she shares a soul-level connection with a spirit that has taken residence within her sword, which took the appearance, according to Inoichi’s report, of an ice dragon the size of the Hokage Monument.” Iruka closed his eyes, and fought hard to breath normally. “Once he actually entered Hitsugaya’s mind, he found her to have, somehow, lived for centuries. This was confirmed by Hitsugaya, who claims to be something called a Soul Reaper, though the terminology her people use is Shinigami.” Yep, definitely above Iruka’s pay grade. Now he was just trying not to faint from shock. “Hitsugaya-san has agreed to join the Shinobi forces to ensure her safety from not just other villages or anyone within our own village who may attempt to control her, but from a monarch in her own plane of existence. Apparently, death itself works differently here, and according to her it would be a long and bloody process for said monarch to take over death in our plane.”

Silence reigned for several minutes, Iruka rubbing at the bridge of his nose and wondering why Naruto always finds these sorts of situations to get himself involved with. Finally, Asuma spoke up. “Hokage-sama, why would she have to run here?”

A grim smile crossed the elder Sarutobi’s face. “Because this monarch wished to force her to carry his children, just for having this spirit connected to her.”

Anko blew up, shouting expletives and kicking a wall hard enough to leave several craters. Iruka pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, hoping to stave off a migraine. He smelled cigarette smoke, and guessed that Asuma had lit up again. He was just shocked that Kurenai wasn’t stopping him, but then again the genjutsu mistress was probably too busy muttering curses under her breath to worry about that. The most shocking was Gai, who Iruka would have sworn would have started crying about how unyouthful such an act was, or what have you. Instead, when the teacher glanced toward the green clad man, he was stock still, apparently petrified at the thought of such a young-appearing girl being forced to make the choice to leave all she knew behind just to start over.

No wonder she and Naruto clicked so quickly.

They’re both suffering for things neither could control.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Gai was hinting at Kakashi agreeing to become the next Hokage for the first one. Let's face it, he is one of the best in the village, even if he slacked off after leaving ANBU. And he'd probably also defect if he was ever pressed into the position at this point in time.
> 
> Just stating, no, I don't know the mechanics of shogi, thus how vague the descriptions of the moves are. This also means I have no idea any strategies that could be used, especially at the level Toshiro and the Nara's are at.
> 
> Also, you can't tell me that someone who went through the Shinigami Academy in seven months would have difficulties catching up with the Naruto 'verse Academy. I wouldn't be shocked if Toshiro has, like, photographic memory or something. Not trying to make her OP or anything, but it is highly possible.
> 
> Tell me what you guys think! I have more where this came from!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshiro goes spying on Iruka's class, and Kakashi teaches Naruto and Toshiro Kage Bunshin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, guys! The chapter where Toshiro gets her hands on Sakura! Please tell me what you think, and if it was what you guys were hoping for. I live off of your guys' comments!

Toshiro blinked up at Kakashi, not entirely shocked that he made the decision to take her on as his apprentice. He had been giving her alternating considering, terrified, and awe-filled looks all week. So really, that bomb didn’t shock her much.

“You want me to what?”

Kakashi sighed. “Maa, I’ve been forced by Council and one of my ninken summons to take on a genin team. I want you to give me information on what the potential little teammates you’re going to get at the end of graduation are like so I have advanced warning on what they are going to be like.”

“So you, who made me your apprentice, want me, someone who hasn’t been around children in centuries, to join the Academy.”

“Yep.”

“When I don’t even need to be there.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And have no idea who all is supposed to be my ‘little teammates’ in the first place.”

“I always get saddled with the Rookie of the Year, Top Kunoichi, and Dead Last. Except for last year, then Gai got that set up.”

Toshiro sighed and rubbed at her temple. “Okay, and we both know who the Dead Last is. So what you really want me to do is spy on the Rookie and Kunoichi.”

“Yep.”

“You realize I will inevitably turn this into a reason to catch sabotage and corruption within the Academy, right?”

“Well, now that you mention it…”

Sigh. “What do I get out of this?”

Kakashi blinked. “I’ll teach you and Naruto a clone jutsu that you’ll be able to do.”

“You were going to do that anyway. And for the rest of the time until graduation?”

“Taijutsu, weapons handling, kunoichi skills?”

Toshiro narrowed her eyes at him. “Someone else had better be teaching me those kunoichi skills, mutt.”

“Of course. Kurenai offered to give you instruction there, and Gai is willing to work with you on taijutsu.”

“So what will _you_ be teaching me?”

“Maa, Toshiro-kun.”

“Mutt-sensei.”

They had a stare off until Kakashi sighed again. “I’ll think of something, all right?”

Toshiro stared for a good minute before nodding her head in agreement. “Deal. I’ll drag Naruto here after class.” After that, she body flickered away to the Academy, leaving behind a pile of snow in her place.

• • •

Naruto perked up as a head of white hair walked through the classroom doors. He thought Kashi-nii was in charge of teaching Toshiro? So, why was she here? Eh, he’d find out soon, anyway.

Iruka called the class into order shortly after Toshiro’s entrance, and said, “Now, we have a new student joining us until graduation. I shouldn’t have to remind you all to use your manners and to remain respectful.” Iruka turned and said, “If you could introduce yourself to the class.”

Naruto examined Toshiro. Similar black dress, shorts, gloves, and boots that she wore when he first met her, same ice blue obi around her waist, sword held in the knot of the obi. The only difference was the black weapons pouch on her thigh that could barely be seen against the shorts, but it was the same old Toshiro, down to the cold and slightly bored mask hiding her emotions.

“I’m Hitsugaya Toshiro, age 10. I came to Konoha a week ago, and have been apprenticed under a lazy jounin who decided to not look after my instruction until absolutely necessary,” she said, her voice monotone and somewhat sarcastic.

Yep. Same old Toshiro.

The fangirls in the class all cried out in shock and anger, some of them yelling something about how Toshiro was lying, others that only their precious Sasuke-kun was good enough to be apprenticed, and the rest that she couldn’t be as young as she claimed to be. Naruto winced and curled in on himself, pressing his hands over his ears. Fangirls were loud! Surprisingly enough, Ino was one of the few fangirls not joining in, instead she sat there blinking. Huh, so the Yamanaka people skills are finally kicking in with her.

It took Iruka using his **Big Head no Jutsu**  to get them to quiet down. “Hitsugaya-san’s ability and age have been verified by multiple sources, so everybody pipe down and stay seated! Hitsugaya-san, if you’d like, the seat next to Naruto is free.”

Naruto uncurled and met Toshiro’s emerald gaze. He grinned and might have started bouncing a little.

“Yeah, I see you, you little hyperactive ball of sunshine,” Toshiro said, a corner of her lips raising in an approximation of a smile. He didn’t like this mask she wore, but kinda got it. She knew his mask, he knew hers. They both disliked each other’s mask, but let the other still wear it. It was a good trade off.

He still kept bouncing as she walked up to sit next to him, ignoring the rest of the class.

• • •

Toshiro felt like she had succeeded in multiple things by the time lunch rolled around. She quickly gathered the information Kakashi requested of her by mere observation. It seemed her very presence was keeping Naruto focused on the lesson, even though some of the words and concepts clearly confused him. She decided that Kakashi’s payment for her presence here was going to be helping her friend fill in the holes of his teaching. And she aced the history test that Mizuki-sensei gave, along with breaking the genjutsu that had been on Naruto’s test. Blatant sabotage incident number one, confirmed.

And then the girls that had been calling Toshiro a liar descended once lunch began.

She felt her eyebrow twitch ten times in the span of a minute, and decided that she’d heard enough. These idiots had insulted Naruto and thought that she shouldn’t be friends with the one person she understands about as well as herself.

A growl slid out of her throat as she glared at the group of girls standing in front of her, a girl who looked like a younger female Inoichi leading the pack. She was one of the few who had not even mentioned Toshiro's blonde friend. “I do not appreciate when someone insults those I care for. I also do not appreciate being used as a social stepping-stone by anyone. So go back to your little circles and leave me alone,” she growled out, her eyes an icy jade.

A pink haired girl that from Naruto’s descriptions Toshiro figured was Sakura scoffed and said, “You can do so much better than that dobe. He can’t do anything right, and you saw his bunshin earlier! Why be friends with that loser?”

The room froze. Literally. The walls were covered in ice and all of the students were shivering so hard their teeth were clacking together. Toshiro glared death at the pink haired menace, and gritted out, “What did you say?”

Sakura had blanched, but still seemed to remain arrogant and self-assured. “He’s n-nothing more than a useless w-waste of s-space. How c-can someone o-of your intelligence w-want anything t-to do with him?”

BAM!

Toshiro landed softly on her feet after kicking the pink haired menace into a near by wall, causing a small crater to form. She stalked over to the menace, and grabbed her by the front of her similar red dress. “I am friends with Naruto because he is actually very bright and constantly gives interesting points of view in conversations and discussions when given half a chance. And if you hadn’t noticed, I can’t exactly perform a bunshin either, while you managed perfectly fine. I don’t see you even trying to help either of us find a cause that we both are well aware of, and are going to be correcting after class lets out with my lazy jounin instructor,” Toshiro said quietly, still glaring holes into scared green eyes. “Take this as a warning: don’t insult my friends.” She then let go of Sakura’s dress and let the ice fade away. Ignoring the stares of the entire class, Iruka and Mizuki excluded since they slipped out before the incident occurred, she walked over to Naruto, Shikamaru, and Chouji. “Come on, I could use some air,” she said, jerking her head towards the door.

The boys nodded their heads quickly, and Chouji whispered something into Naruto’s ear that had the blonde blurt out, “No shit she’s terrifying! She eats ramen cold!”

She rolled her eyes at his idiotic response to Chouji. Of course he’d fall back to that damn mask of his.

• • •

“So,” Kakashi said, clasping his hands together and staring at his cute little students. “What did you learn today?”

“That you’re a lazy sadist,” Toshiro deadpanned. Naruto gave her a horrified look.

“Shiro!”

“What, he is. And apparently also a masochist, considering the teammates we’re going to be saddled with,” Toshiro said, not even looking up from polishing her razor-sharp sword.

“Maa maa, Toshiro-kun. Let me be the judge of any sadistic and masochistic tendencies I may or may not have,” Kakashi drawled, holding both his hands up in an attempt to calm the ice princess down.

A heavy breath left Toshiro’s lungs before she looked up and met his gaze. “Well, Rookie of the Year is hands down going to be the Uchiha. I get the feeling that Shika could give the Uchiha a run for his money, but he’s too bored in class and so doesn’t do the work.” Kakashi blinked. Well, that was new information he could give Asuma. “Even without your Council babying Uchiha, he’s outstripped the rest of the class by a fair margin. He thinks he’s the shit, and has his head so far up his butt that I don’t think he really notices anything but himself and his goals. Essentially, a disaster waiting to happen when paired with personalities such as mine and Naruto’s. For the Top Kunoichi, I would say it was between Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino, but with the Nara and Akimichi heirs looking fairly set to graduate, the Yamanaka’s gonna wind up with them. Leaving us with a pink haired menace.”

“Sakura-chan’s not that bad,” Naruto tried to defend their most probable second kunoichi teammate.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Toshiro’s ugly snort. “She called you a useless waste of space that can’t do anything right. With me, she sealed her own fate unless she begins to show a drastic change in personality. Or a willingness to accept potential bribery, though of what I’m still contemplating.” She turned her gaze back to Kakashi. “She’s an Uchiha fangirl of the highest caliber and thinks the sun shines out of his brooding ass. After the incident at lunch, I doubt she’d be willing to work with either of us without, as stated, a drastic reality check or bribery.”

“The one where she called Naruto that entirely untruthful title,” he said for clarification. He was rewarded with Naruto shivering and Toshiro giving him an evil smile. He got a sinking suspicion that his cute apprentice had done something that wound up in damages in retaliation. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. “Well, apparently I am more masochistic than I expected. On paper, this team’s starting to sound like my genin team.” He sighed. “Damn you, Pakkun.”

Naruto tilted his head and looked at Kakashi all confused-fox-kit like. “How’s that, Kashi-nii?”

Kakashi crossed his arms and sat back. “Maa, I was a bit of a brooding, rule-following bastard when I was younger. Think Sasuke level brooding and age back to around ten. That was me, recently made chuunin placed on a genin team of all things. Or so it seemed at the time. Then,” he ticked off two fingers, “we had the Top Kunoichi who quickly became my fangirl. Rin was a very talented medic-nin, but she never really got the chance to get over her crush. And finally,” he ticked off the third finger, “there was the Dead Last. Sasuke’s cousin, in fact. The most un-Uchiha of the entire Uchiha Clan. I’m fairly certain they were trying to find a way to disown him, it was that bad. Obito acted much like Naruto’s mask, pranks, love of orange, and all, mixed with my more recent lateness, on Sasuke’s face.” He shrugged, ignoring the eye twitches from both of his cute students as they obviously tried to envision it. “Out of the entire team, jounin sensei included, I’m the last one left.”

That sure sobered the mood quickly. Naruto was looking guilty for some reason, and Toshiro retreated back behind her cold mask. Huh, maybe it was how he said it? His friends always said he had an issue with emotional sensitivity. He blamed it on how he grew up, and the fact that he’s a shinobi. They’re all emotionally stunted _somehow_.

Kakashi just shrugged again. “So yeah, masochistic. That part was right, at least.” He then tilted his head. “So, who want’s to learn a viable clone technique?”

He wasn’t surprised when Naruto’s hand shot up. “Me! Me! I wanna learn a new jutsu!” Kakashi rolled his eye in time with Toshiro. Completely predictable in that regard. And probably also playing his excitement up. Kakashi was learning that his little brother did things like that.

• • •

Toshiro set Hyorinmaru aside and watched as Kakashi raised his hands to form a cross with his first two fingers on each hand. “This,” he said, flaring his reiatsu. A puff of smoke came from next to him, and an identical clone of Kakashi appeared, sitting next to the original and continuing the explanation. “Is the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**. What differentiates the Kage Bunshin from a regular Bunshin is that it is not an illusion.” Clone-Kakashi reached forward and poked Naruto in the forehead. Toshiro watched as the finger didn’t look to be phasing through Naruto’s head, instead actually putting pressure behind the poke. Original-Kakashi picked up from there. “Kage Bunshin are solid clones, perfect mirrors of the original straight down to the chakra system. However,” he lashed out with a back fist and hit his clone straight in the face, causing it to dispel in a cloud of smoke, “they dissipate after a good hit, and then you lose half the chakra at your disposal. You also receive all of the memories and knowledge that the clone gained.” He appeared to smile at Toshiro and Naruto’s horrified looks. He just punched himself in the face to showcase a technique, knowing that he’d remember what it would feel like.

Mutt-sensei had more than a few screws loose.

“Now, go on ahead. You only need the single hand seal,” Kakashi held up his hands in the cross again. Toshiro looked down at her hands, and quickly formed the seal. “Just try to make one for right now, don’t be too disappointed if it doesn’t work on the first–“

POOF!

“Try,” he said mournfully as he looked out upon the clearing. Toshiro looked behind her, and found ten clones standing at attention. She then looked just beyond them and nearly choked on her own tongue.

It was a sea of orange and blonde. Naruto had easily made a hundred perfect clones when before he couldn’t even make one that looked right. Toshiro would be laughing in excitement if she didn’t feel like crying.

“Ne, Kashi-nii, did I do it right?” the Naruto’s chorused.

Kakashi broke out of his mournful stare and shook himself. “Err, Naruto, I just asked for one clone.”

“But Kashi-nii,” one of the Naruto’s near the front of the group said, “this was the same amount of chakra I put into the regular bunshin!”

Toshiro enjoyed the sight of Kakashi’s eye twitch. He took a deep breath before speaking. “Well. Looks like we’re going to be working on your chakra control.” He then raised his voice to yell, “Alright, ninety of you, dissipate! I apologize, how ever you are unnecessary at this time!”

“Aw,” was the cumulative answer to that, before a large cloud of smoke filled the air. Once it faded away, Toshiro saw the original Naruto surrounded by his clones much like she was. They both ignored Kakashi’s mutterings about waste of chakra. “So, what’re we doing, sensei?” Naruto asked, drawing the attention back to the lesson.

Kakashi sighed, shoulders sagging momentarily, before he straightened. “I’m going to teach you both how to climb trees without using your hands,” he said, and proceeded to walk straight at, and then up, a tree. “Focus your chakra into the soles of your feet and use it to stick to the bark. Toshiro and clones, no ice tricks! Use a kunai to mark your progress. Also, a running start might be useful.” He settled down on a fairly high, sturdy branch, and pulled out his book. “Begin,” he called out, already immersed in his reading.

Toshiro shared a look with her clones, and they all shrugged. She moved to stand in front of a tree with high branches, and focused her reiatsu into the soles of her feet. Once she was certain she could do it without freezing anything, she ran towards the tree and managed four, five… six steps before she fell onto the ground. “Ow,” she loudly groaned, picking herself up and trying again. This time, she managed seven steps before falling. “Ow!”

This was going to be worse than learning Bankai.

She hurt for weeks while learning Bankai.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Headaches, new friends, and accusations of self-stupidity. Oh, and frozen trees. Read if you want the details.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gods, I am so sorry about the delay. I was driving all day yesterday, and only really feel human enough to post something now. Moving sucks.
> 
> Posting will return to normal schedule tomorrow! Enjoy!

•Two Days Later•

The progress both Naruto and Toshiro made in the past two days with the use of Kage Bunshin was terrifying to Kakashi, who thought his cute apprentice was terrifying enough after catching up to the graduates in six days without them. He found out that the originals were going to classes, while about four clones each worked on shoring up the holes in Naruto’s theoretical knowledge, dissipating when they covered the topic of the day per clone set. After classes, the original Naruto and Toshiro would arrive at the training ground, and go through their training with Kakashi on his terms. This was usually followed by them returning to their still shared apartment and going over rumors and collecting information from two _more_ clones Naruto had poking around the village all day. Which then led to the already pretty sneaky blonde becoming more proficient in stealth.

Oh, the fortune they must be spending on headache medicine. Kakashi almost didn’t want to think about it.

But it was this progress that led him to the dilemma he was left with. Because Kakashi knew that Jiraiya-sama would wish to have updates on his godson’s situation. At the same time, Kakashi also knew that he was getting a team that he wasn’t allowed to fail, for reasons both personal and politic, and thus needed as much advice as he could get in regards to actually teaching a group of brats that didn’t act like sponges for information and attention, like Toshiro and Naruto respectively are.

And thus, Kakashi was having to write a letter to his sensei’s mentor, begging for help while giving information on how far Naruto’s grown. And how wrong everything they’ve thought was when it comes to the small blonde.

Kami help him, this wasn’t going to end well.

• • •

For the past two days, Toshiro had been left alone by the female populace of the class, primarily because she made sure to stick very close to Naruto, Shikamaru, and Chouji all the time. Kiba was allowed on occasion, but the dog breath was more obnoxious than Naruto when the blonde was fully immersed in his mask, and besides, Toshiro was more of a cat person.

And thus it was with mild surprise when, during lunch, Toshiro, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Chouji were approached by a very unnerved looking Ino. The pale blonde girl sat down and said, “Okay, ostensibly, I’m here to try and get better acquainted with these two,” she jerked her thumb towards Shikamaru and Chouji. “In actuality, I’ve been going over all previous interactions with you,” she pointed at Naruto, “over the past few years, including our first meeting, for the past 48 hours, and realized something very disturbing.” Ino leaned forward, looked right into bright blue eyes, and said, “You constantly wear a mask, and are smarter than you appear.”

“Uh,” Naruto said, clearly not knowing how to react to such a situation.

Toshiro leaned back and observed as the strong-willed girl just continued. “Practically all of the adults hate you for whatever reason, every instructor except Iruka-sensei included. Your pranks don’t correlate with the times you’ve been out of class the past two years, and you only skip with both Shikamaru and Chouji, who haven’t skipped a day in the same time frame.” Oh yes, Ino would have done well in Tenth Division. Much like Matsumoto, this one, when Ino puts her mind to it. “For reasons I can only guess to be because of your birthday, you’re blamed for the deaths that happened the day the Nine Tail Fox attacked, which makes absolutely no sense. I’m still analyzing that.” Toshiro bit her tongue, remembering the law that Kakashi had mentioned when he told-not-told her about the jinchuuriki thing, an action that no doubt Shikamaru caught sight of from how he narrowed his eyes. Ino just continued, “Am I missing anything?”

“There was an illusion over his history test two days ago,” Toshiro said, opening her bento calmly. “I dispelled it before he began answering questions.”

Naruto stared at her. “Is that why the test was so easy?” he asked incredulously.

Toshiro hummed and took a bite of a rice ball, not saying a word. Instead, she let his fellow classmates figure out what he meant. If she did, things would wind up freezing.

Well. That would happen anyway. But details.

“What do you mean ‘so easy’, Naruto?” Chouji asked around his mouthful of food. “The test was the same difficulty as the rest of the previous ones.”

Naruto looked at the other three as if seeing something in a new light. Oh, Toshiro wasn’t going to like whatever he had to say to that… “You mean the other tests we’d been given didn’t have information not gone over in class, or in the books? Things that when I looked them up were only known upon reaching chuunin level? …Toshiro, I appreciate how protective you are, but you’ve got to stop freezing things when you’re angry.”

She took several meditative breaths and let the ice and frost melt away. “Sorry. Instinctive reaction to the chemical compounds the brain secretes when anger is felt. I actually can’t help it,” she said in explanation.

“Yeah well, you can’t always freeze things that make you angry,” Naruto said, crossing his arms and glaring at Toshiro, who gave him a blank look.

“I can’t?”

“It is generally considered impolite by society at large.”

“Oh. Still.”

“All right,” Ino slowly said. “So there’s also been sabotage regarding your tests. Where were you when you weren’t in class, then?”

“Detentions,” Naruto answered, as if it were the most obvious answer.

The tree they sat under froze again.

“Those happen during lunch or after class, Naruto,” Shikamaru said, staring at the bright blonde as if putting together a puzzle. Naruto tipped his head to the side, confusion on his face.

“They do? I’ve always had them during class, since the beginning of the Academy.”

“Ugh, no wonder you don’t know the theory!” Ino groaned, rubbing at her forehead. Toshiro knew where the other girl was coming from. “Wait! You’ve been getting better these last couple days! How have you–“

“It’s our clone technique,” Toshiro said, finally calm enough to speak. “There’s a memory transfer upon dispersion. We’ve been using it during the time we’re in class to patch up Naruto’s theoretical knowledge base.”

The three Clan heirs all stared at Toshiro in confusion. “Clones don’t do that, Toshiro-kun,” Ino said.

Toshiro tilted her head. “And we cannot use normal clones. Instead, we use what is called Kage Bunshin, a B-rank forbidden jutsu normally taught to high chuunin’s or jounin’s. We have the chakra reserves to successfully abuse the technique, however, and thus have proceeded to do so for the past two days.”

“You guys shoulda seen the first time I used them,” Naruto gushed, bright grin in place. “I made one hundred clones using the same amount of chakra I did for the regular bunshin! And they all were perfect!”

“Though I would not recommend attempting it yourselves,” Toshiro cut in. “Apparently, we both have abnormally large reserves for our ages. Mutt-sensei apparently severely underestimated just how much Naruto alone had at his disposal. I have better control than my blonde cohort, thus managed ten clones with the same amount of chakra I was using with the regular bunshin.” Of course, she wasn’t using chakra at all, but reiatsu, however she’s gotten more accustomed to using the terminology of the land as opposed to what she had known for centuries. It wasn’t easy, but at least she wasn’t tripping over her tongue every time she said the word. Luckily, all three children nodded, and they moved on to safer topics. Well, relatively safer topics.

“Toshiro? The tree?”

“Oh.”

• • •

Kakashi wasn’t all that shocked after he sent the letter with Pakkun to receive one that afternoon from a messenger toad. He read through it eagerly, hoping that the Sannin would have more of an idea of what he should do than he did.

_Scarecrow Pup,_

_It’s always a joy to hear about my godson, even if it is to find out everything I have been told previously has in fact been false. At least he isn’t entirely helpless as I’ve been led to believe. I’m going to have to ask sensei why that’s been the reports I’ve been getting, but something tells me I already know the answer. His father played a very similar game. Thank you for helping him as you have since realizing this, and it’s about time you took a student on. Brat must be good to have impressed you. And she sounds like a good influence on my godson, so she’s got as good of an okay from me as I can give without meeting the brat._

_But what do you expect me to do about this? You know as well as I do that I can’t actually talk with him until he turns sixteen. I’m fairly certain there’s no loophole around that edict, I’ve been looking for one for the past twelve years. If you can come up with one I haven’t thought of, I’d be glad to hear it._

_Beyond that, just remember how my student handled your team. Something tells me that’s the best advice I can give with the group you’re probably gonna wind up with._

_White Toad_

Kakashi frowned and burnt the letter after making sure to look at it with his Sharingan. The spymaster hadn’t found any loophole in the order keeping him from his godson. That was going to be a problem, if Jiraiya couldn’t approach Naruto until he was sixteen there was no way the blonde was going to react well to finding out he had someone who could have looked after him during his hell of a childhood.

There had to be something. After all, if Naruto approached Jiraiya instead of the other way around, it would be unfair to punish the Sannin for indulging the boy, as long as it doesn’t come out that Jiraiya’s pseudo-family.

Kakashi blinked.

He felt so stupid.

Lunging for a piece of paper, he asked the messenger toad to stick around for just a few more minutes as he scribbled down his realization into something that made sense. They just had to be shinobi about this.

Now to just lead Toshiro into hunting down information about the Uzumaki clan…

He purposefully ignored the comment about looking back at Minato-sensei for example. While it would help, he got the feeling that he needed more assistance than that. Hm, maybe asking the ghosts at the Memorial Stone would finally give him answers…

• • •

Halfway across the Elemental Countries, a white haired man was smacking his head against the tree trunk he was perched in, muttering, “Idiot, I am such an idiot,” under his breath, his research momentarily forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. Slow, filler chapter that's more for getting Ino-Shika-Chou to start turning their wheels. I swear, next chapter will be more substantial.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Toshiro has had it, and is willing to steal from ANBU to get her questions answered. Plausible deniability is abundant within.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, we are at regular posting schedule once more! Please enjoy!

•Five Days Later•

Toshiro had had enough. She had spent the past two weeks staring between Naruto and the Fourth head up on the Hokage Monument, something in the back of her mind niggling at her that there was a connection there, Naruto looked like a younger spitting image of who she knew now was the Fourth Hokage, there was no way that was just a coincidence. It also didn’t help that books on basic sealing and the history of the art have been appearing in the shared apartment randomly, all of them mentioning something about an Uzumaki Clan who seemed to excel at and perfected the art, almost as if Kakashi felt the need to prove that he still was as much of a creep as he sometimes appears. Though it also gave her clones something to occupy Naruto’s with whenever he finished a topic, something like an incentive to complete his assigned theory in a complete and timely manner. And from the few exercises he’s done, he appeared to be a natural at it. Made Toshiro think that the Uzumaki had to be one of his parents, and not just a name given to Naruto at random.

And so, with all of that in mind, she grabbed hold of Naruto and dragged him into the Hokage’s office on their day off from training, two weeks after they met. Thanks to Naruto’s status as adoptive grandson to the Sandaime, they didn’t even have to stop at the secretary’s office for more than a question of whether the Hokage was busy with a meeting. Toshiro almost felt vindicated when the Sandaime looked up, saw her, and groaned. “Naruto, Hitsugaya-san, what brings you two here?” the Hokage said, both fond and exasperated. It was a common enough tone in Yamamoto-soutaicho’s voice.

“I dunno, Jiji, Shiro just decided we needed to come here,” Naruto said, probably glancing at Toshiro in worry.

Toshiro shook her head and looked the Hokage dead in the eyes. “Three things. First, why does that,” point at Naruto, “look like that,” point at the just-visible Fourth Hokage’s head. “And if you dare to say it’s just a coincidence, I’ll eat my left boot. There’s never such a thing as a coincidence.”

From the way the Hokage’s jaw tightened, she must have hit the nail on the head. “I am unable to–“

“Then you don’t have to say a word, nods or finger taps work just as well. Is Naruto related to the Yondaime?” she asked, not caring that her attitude may be seen as insulting towards the man who will become her leader.

One of his hands stretched out, and the index finger tapped once. Yes.

She ignored the incredulous and probably scared look in Naruto’s face, because she’d probably break if she looked at him right now. “Son, nephew, or cousin?”

Another tap from the index finger. First. Son.

“Jiji?” Naruto asked, his voice wavering slightly.

Toshiro saw the wince on the Hokage’s aged face, and jumped on the opening. “You hid his heritage to protect him, I assume? From what I’ve learned regarding history, the Yondaime had many enemies who would start a war if they heard of him having a child.”

Single finger tap. Yes.

“You gave him his mother’s last name.”

Yes.

“But never told him his mother’s name.”

Yes.

“She had just as many enemies as the Yondaime, didn’t she?”

No. His spare hand rose and pushed his index finger and thumb together. Less enemies than the Yondaime, then.

“But she was a blooded Uzumaki from Uzushiogakure?”

Yes.

“Which means that his mother was a member of the Uzumaki clan, and he took his coloration from his father.”

Yes. “How did you know?”

“Mutt-sensei’s been a creeper recently. Second point, when I performed research on the Uzumaki clan, there was no information to be found in the public or shinobi archives. Was the records of the clan sealed away somewhere to keep Naruto from finding out about them?”

Yes.

“Which means they’d be in a location that only certain people are allowed access to.”

Yes.

“On whose orders was it sealed away, yours or the Civilian Council’s?”

Middle finger tap. Second. Council.

“Which means the information is not in the Hokage’s personal library.”

Yes.

Which left the ANBU library, which is located in their headquarters. She slid a glance towards Naruto. He mentioned that he snuck into their headquarters, though apparently only to eavesdrop for rumors and secrets. Useful in compiling information around the village, and now for finding out more about his family.

“Last thing. All of my research into the subject says that it’s impossible to kill a chakra beast. The Kyuubi would have reformed by now if Yondaime had just killed it that day. Correct?”

The Sandaime looked like he swallowed a lemon even as he tapped his index finger once. Yes.

Toshiro smirked. “Which means that it was sealed away, correct?”

Yes.

“Thank you for your time, Hokage-sama. It is most appreciated, considering your busy schedule,” she said, bowing to the Sandaime, which helped to hide her smug look.

“Of course. It’s always a pleasure to see my grandson and his friend,” the Sandaime said, all tense and uneasy. She grinned.

“Oh, don’t worry, Hokage-sama. We won’t cause too much trouble, no need to look so worried,” she said brightly before grabbing Naruto and body flickering away.

• • •

Toshiro let go of her friend as the apartment came into view around her chakra snow. “We need to leave clones here,” she said.

Naruto rounded on her. “No, what was that? Why did you– I mean, I always thought I looked kinda like the Yondaime, but I thought it was hero worship! And, I mean, I know those books you conned storekeepers out of kept mentioning an Uzumaki clan, but there’s no way I’m one, dattebayo! Are you sure you’re on the right track?”

Toshiro smiled at Naruto, and placed a hand on a tight shoulder. “Naruto. I’m sure. Besides, I didn’t con anyone out of those books. The mutt was being a creeper again and leaving them everywhere. I figured he wanted us to look into something regarding the topic, and besides sealing, the one commonality between everything he left behind was information about the Uzumaki clan. Remember that one book that postulated a potential unrecorded kekkei genkai that allowed those with Uzumaki blood to learn seals much faster than normal?”

“Well, yeah, we kinda read it together and argued about whether it was possible.”

“And remember how easy reading the seals is for you?”

Naruto blinked and stared at her. “Wait, you really think…?”

“And Hokage-sama just confirmed it,” she said while nodding. “Now, we need to leave a shadow clone here each if we’re going to sneak into ANBU headquarters.”

“Why there?” he asked even as he made the hand seal for the jutsu. “ **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!** ” Their practice was paying off, since only one clone emerged from the cloud of smoke.

“Because that’s the only other place that information could be sealed away in,” Toshiro said, making the same seal. “ **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!** ” Her clone appeared in a swirl of snowflakes. Toshiro was always secretly pleased that her connection to winter kept appearing whenever she used jutsu. “Now, we have to hurry if we’re going to do this without being caught. I’ll explain about the third thing I asked Hokage-sama when we get back.”

Now it was Naruto who looked like he swallowed a lemon. “Okay…”

“Hey, cheer up. You finally get to show me how you snuck into the ANBU headquarters without being caught.” Toshiro turned to the two clones and said, “Work on either theory, homework, or calligraphy until we get back, understood?”

“Hai, Toshiro-boss!” the Naruto clone shouted, saluting while grinning widely.

“Of course, Toshiro-hime,” her clone said with a polite bow. “Would you also prefer me to summon another of my sisters to get a head start on your lunch for tomorrow?”

Toshiro never understood her clones’ propensity for calling her “hime.” Or being so perfectly polite towards her. “Certainly, if you wish. That would be most helpful.” She blocked out the Naruto’s snickering.

• • •

Naruto led the way into the ANBU headquarters, moving slowly and tamping down on his massive chakra reserves as much as he was able. He hadn’t been found yet, but he wasn’t about to chance it. Keeping to the shadows and vents, the two pre-genin easily reached the library. Naruto pushed chakra into the soles of his feet and jumped out of the vent, landing silently. Toshiro was right behind him, though he could tell she didn’t need to use her chakra. It was moments like that he was just the slightest bit envious of his genius friend.

Said genius friend was already halfway down the U aisle, muttering, “Uzumaki,” under her breath. Naruto quickly moved to catch up, making sure his chakra was keeping him on top of the large amount of dust they were encountering. No one must have been down here for years, at least. “Uzumaki,” Toshiro said with finality, her fingers resting on a huge scroll that was covered in dust. Naruto had a problem trying to keep from letting his jaw fall to the floor. That… that looked like a lot of information.

Carefully, between the two of them, they got the scroll out of it’s spot without disturbing too much dust, and maneuvered over to a dust-covered table set near the aisle. Naruto pinned down the opening while Toshiro unrolled the scroll portion a little.

What they saw wasn’t information.

It was seals.

Naruto knew he wasn’t anywhere close to the level of even tracing a simple explosion seal, much less knowing anything about such intricate work like what was in this scroll. Yet, he could tell just by looking at them how each seal overlapped each other, interlocking into a vast web of storage seals that must have spanned the whole length of the scroll. When Jiji agreed that the information was sealed away, he meant it literally.

Everything about his clan…

“We won’t be able to go through this all at once,” he muttered, not able to take his eyes off the seals, analyzing where the clusters were, how many clusters there were on the small portion of the scroll shown, and how to release each seal. “And if we keep sneaking in, they’ll realize something’s up.”

“Then we take it with us,” Toshiro said in the same volume as him. Naruto blinked, hoping that he wasn’t hearing what he was hearing, and watched as his friend found a scroll the same size as this one and placed a henge over it. Suddenly, there were two identical scrolls, and only because Naruto hadn’t moved he knew that the one in front of his was the real one. “Roll that up and use this,” Toshiro untied her obi-scarf and handed it over, “around the ends, then place it on your back. I’ll put this back.”

“What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed, staring wide-eyed as Toshiro rolled her eyes and slipped back into the aisle. He scrambled to roll the scroll back up, and tied the scarf around the ends tight enough that it wouldn’t slip out suddenly while they were getting out of here. She had to be insane. Stealing from the ANBU.

Why hadn’t he seen this earlier?

Wait. She was friends with him, the demon brat. Of course she was insane.

Toshiro zipped back to him and breathed, “Come on.” They moved back to the vent so fast the air didn’t even move, and after replacing the cover they were on their way out of the headquarters.

• • •

Kakashi knew that his hints had done something, if only because it looked like the Naruto clones were studying seals after shoring up his theoretical knowledge. Wasn’t exactly what he was hoping for, but it was a start. He was on his way to leaving another hint when Toshiro stopped him from entering the apartment.

“Mutt-sensei, I wouldn’t recommend entering.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And why’s that?” There wasn’t any smoke, so she hadn’t let Naruto try cooking. She was physically too young to be making Naruto a man, and she seemed less interested in that than Iruka was when he wasn’t three sheets to the wind. He could still sense Naruto inside the apartment, and it wasn’t one of the clones, they had a smoky scent to them, so she hadn’t spilled the jinchuuriki secret to the blonde.

“Because there is such a thing as plausible deniability, something which would be a good idea for someone with your ranks,” she said as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

Kakashi blinked.

Well. His cute apprentice could indeed break laws whenever it suited her. Whatever pushed her to this, Naruto must be in on it, too, if only because they were thick as thieves.

He sighed, his shoulders slumping. “You took my hints, didn’t you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mutt-sensei. We’re merely researching old, forgotten clans for an extra-credit assignment Iruka-sensei handed out,” Toshiro said, hah, as if he’d ever believe her innocent act.

But fine.

“Wasn’t there, didn’t see you, couldn’t have stopped you,” he said, handing over the hint he wanted to drop off before turning away. Yeah, she took the hints. Now to tell Jiraiya that they might wind up needing a seal master to help guide Naruto eventually in the art. At least, if they could find the right time to manufacture a meeting.

• • •

Toshiro looked down at the book in annoyance. They just pulled this one out of the scroll laid out in the kitchen. Now there were duplicates. She closed and locked the door before walking over to the table where the scroll was laid out. “So, what else is in here besides the history texts?”

“Um, a lot on sealing. Like, a lot. And not just the standard texts either, like, clan techniques and stuff. There’s also texts about something called Yin release, which when an Uzumaki reaches it creates these sealing chain thingies. And that’s just in the first meter or so,” Naruto said, glancing over his shoulder to the bookshelf that the books were being placed. “I think we might need a second shelf.”

She frowned at the mostly full bookshelf and nodded. “I’ll see about swindling a shop owner tomorrow. For now, I do believe I promised to tell you why I brought up the Kyuubi attack.”

Naruto cut his eyes over to her even as he rolled the scroll back up. “Yeah, that confused the heck out of me.”

Toshiro rolled her eyes and set the book Kakashi handed her on the table. “Let me lay out the evidence that has been given to us, then. Your birthday just happened to be on the day that the Kyuubi attacked. From some of the titles of these books, I can hazard a guess at who the previous jailer was. The villagers call you ‘monster’, ‘demon brat’, and what have you. They also blame all the deaths caused in the attack on you, which Ino helpfully pointed out. On top of that, as I said, I did research into the Bijuu. If the Yondaime had killed the Kyuubi, it would have reformed by now, since it does not have a physical body but one made up of chakra.” She stared at Naruto as she watched the pieces start to click together, but confusion still very much ruled his expression. She sighed. “Come on, I want to try something.” She moved to a clear area of the floor and dropped two comfy pillows down facing each other. She then plunked down on one and stared at Naruto until he sat down on the other.

“What exactly did you want to try?”

“Meditating,” she said with finality.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. 

“Don’t look at me like that, I know you do it before bed every night, you know the basics and usefulness of meditating. Just trust me and follow my breathing.” With that, she closed her eyes and slowed her own breathing, quickly falling into her normal meditative breaths. She felt when Naruto synched with her, as she fell straight into her soul scape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me whatcha think! Comments are my life (and caffeine due to staying up all hours playing yugioh)! I have more where this came from!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Kyuubi enters the scene, and secrets are shared. Prepare for an angst trip, everyone.

“Oof!” Naruto huffed as he sat up. Must have fallen asleep instead of meditating or something. He had a tendency of doing that, it’s why he meditates before sleeping. He blinked as he realized that, uh, this wasn’t the living area of his apartment. It looked more like a sewer. And was that a cage right in front of him?

Something moved inside the cage, and a deep, growling, familiar voice said, “Hello, kit.” Naruto stared as large red eyes peered out of the shadows, and an orange furred fox head easily twice his height came into view. Nine fox tails swished around, just barely visible through the shadows.

“K-K-Kyuubi,” he stuttered out, and wow, now he got what Toshiro was trying to say earlier. It also explained that voice he heard whenever he was really angry or hurt.

Kyuubi’s head dipped in a nod. “That is my title, yes. It is good to speak with you when you are not injured, kit.”

Naruto blinked and tilted his head. “Title? If it’s not your name, then what is?”

Kyuubi chuckled, and said, “Maybe later, I’ll tell you, kit. Right now, though, we have visitors.”

A deep, masculine voice said, “Thank you, Fox Queen.”

Naruto whipped his head around and scrambled to his feet. “Toshiro! Where are we? And whoa, that’s a lot of snow.”

His friend chuckled and hooked her thumbs in her shorts pockets. “This is a melding of our two soul scapes. The barren snow field is mine.” She frowned as she looked at the sewer Naruto stood in. “Though the fact that your Inner World is manifesting as a sewer is deeply troubling.”

Kyuubi snorted. “Try living in it. Now, this should work, ah-ha!” Naruto felt a surge of chakra and spun around. He blinked at the woman with nine foxtails that now stood where the Kyuubi was, and watched as she managed to slip through the bars of the cage with some difficulty. “Ugh! Only way I can slip out of that and I can only do it when the kit’s here. All mighty Fox Queen, and I’m reduced to this,” she grumbled as she fixed her pure red kimono and walked closer to Naruto. The lady smiled down at Naruto and ran a comforting hand through his sunny blonde hair. “Hello there, kit. Dragon-kit, thank you for looking after him.”

Toshiro bowed her head. “Of course, my lady. I know what it is like to be treated as something to be feared, all too well.” She then turned and seemed to glare out into the vast snow-covered field. “Hyorinmaru, I know you’re there. When are you going to decide to join us?”

Bright red eyes peered through the snow, and rose up higher than even Kyuubi’s in her fox form were. “I was hoping to let the Little Fox become accustomed to the presence of the Fox Queen, first. Would you rather he be terrified of my form as you were when we first met, Little One?”

Toshiro growled and turned back towards Naruto, who was still staring up at those eyes. “Pardon the King of Winter, he’s normally not this stubborn.”

“Little one, don’t lie.”

“Fine, you’re as stubborn as a glacier. What else is new?”

A snort came from this Hyorinmaru—wait, wasn’t that the name of Toshiro’s sword? Those eyes blinked out, and a man easily a head taller than Kashi-nii stepped out of the snow and towards the line differentiating between Naruto and Toshiro. “Is this better, little Queen?”

Toshiro glared up at the teal-haired man. “I hate you. I really do.”

The man smiled down at her and said, “No you don’t.”

She glowered, crossing her arms and looking away with a huff. “I wish I could,” she muttered petulantly, almost bringing a small laugh from Naruto at the sight of his ever-mature friend acting like this.

• • •

Kurama was intrigued by the dragon-in-human-skin before her. Not only was he, well, frankly hot as flames, but he wasn’t a Bijuu, or demon, as far as she could tell. He was something else, something linked irrevocably with the little white Dragon-kit her kit has become littermates with, even if her kit would never admit to thinking of the Dragon-kit like that. She’d never seen anything like it before. And the by-play between this Hyorinmaru and the Dragon-kit showed that they’ve known each other for much longer than the Dragon-kit’s physical appearance implied.

They both were something else.

Kurama was more than slightly jealous. That sort of bond, of understanding, could help her look after her kit better than just healing his wounds and letting him curl into her fur on the occasion he actually entered his mind scape. Yes, she was unwillingly sealed inside her kit, but really, she was more pissed at the damn Uchiha who controlled her into attacking the village, not her kit. No, her kit was just as much a victim in this circumstance, and she was not one to blame the victim for anything.

Hyorinmaru caught Kurama’s eye and waved her slightly away from the kits, allowing them to converse over matters in semi-privacy. “You are curious about something,” he stated.

Kurama blinked and thought back to her previous interactions with dragons. If she recalled correctly, they never actually ask questions, and find it insulting to do so. “I am. This bond you share with your kit, it is not something I have seen in all my centuries of life.”

Hyorinmaru smiled. “And you believe you have seen everything there is to see in regards to the spirits.”

“Clearly I did until now,” she drawled, crossing her arms under her chest.

Hyorinmaru rumbled out a laugh, something Kurama felt deep in her bones. “Fair enough. I am known as a zanpaktō spirit. I have given up all ties to a physical form, and instead have bound myself to another’s soul by means that are mostly unbreakable.”

“But only mostly,” she said, wanting to know more about this zanpaktō thing he spoke of, but knowing to always examine for drawbacks first.

“There are methods of sealing away ones zanpaktō spirit. Many do not approve of such a practice, since it tears apart ones soul.” Hyorinmaru frowned. “However, in the dimension Toshiro and I come from, there is a family that still practices such barbaric means.”

“So zanpaktō only exist in your dimension.” Kurama frowned at the thought. That could prove challenging.

Hyorinmaru shook his head. “Any spirit may become a zanpaktō. It is only practiced more commonly there. However, should you be contemplating it, the process to become a zanpaktō is painful on the spirit. There have not been many new spirits in quite some time, to my knowledge.”

Kurama tilted her head in acquiescence, putting aside the matter for now. “Your kit is not normal.”

Hyorinmaru rumble-chuckled again. “No, my Little One certainly is not. She would be highly offended to be considered such.”

Kurama narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on her ribs. She really hated this no-asking-actual-questions bullshit. “Correction, then. Your kit is not human. She holds traces of death in her scent. My kit has not noticed it, but I have.”

Hyorinmaru sobered instantly, examining Kurama as if he was looking for any sign of untrustworthiness. She resisted the urge to huff. Trickster she might be, she also knew how to keep secrets. Many of her siblings were glad for the ability, even if they hated her pranks and tricks once turned on them. Finally, Hyorinmaru decided on whatever he was contemplating so hard. “Toshiro is no longer human, that is true. However, she still is a human spirit, even if she has been given mortal form upon our entrance to this dimension.”

Kurama blinked, and yelled in chorus with her kit, “What?!”

• • •

Toshiro winced at the volume Naruto had yelled at. “Yes, I’m dead yet still living. You did hear that right,” she said, hoping to calm her friend down before he burst a blood vessel or something.

“No no no, that part I think I get.” Naruto waved his hands out in front of him as if to knock away her words. “It explains why you act like an old person yet you look like a kid, though the pseudo-death god thing’s different. No, just… What’s this about some Royal Family wanting to rip your soul to shreds and knock you up? I don’t think that’s possible at your physical age!”

Toshiro felt her shoulders slump at Naruto’s indignant reaction. “You– You don’t care?” she whispered, feeling hope bloom in her little cold heart.

He glared at her, something she almost flinched away from. “Of course I care! You kept something this big from me, though I can understand why. No matter how long it feels like we’ve known each other, we only met two weeks ago. But you’re still Toshiro, still my friend who managed to make veggies taste good and helped me fix all the issues I was having over the years because of the villager’s sabotage. I’ve actually grown an inch because you’ve been making me eat right!” He took a deep breath while Toshiro stared at this miracle of a boy who, despite being faced with so much hatred throughout his childhood, was still so kind. “But you kept something that had to be eating you up inside from me, all while giving your all to completely change my life. Of course I care that you haven’t let me try to help you in return.”

A hysterical laugh fell from her lips. “How– How are you still– I turned cold as ice to protect myself, going through what you have, to the point that I didn’t know if it was an act any longer or not, how are you still so gods damned _warm_? So kind, and caring, and completely fucking selfless?”

Naruto looked like he was about to step across the divide in an attempt to hug her ( _when did she begin to be so tactile, she used to shirk away from physical contact_ ), when Kyuubi grabbed hold of his shoulder. “Hold up there, kit. Cross that line and we’re permanently fused together,” the Fox Queen said quietly to the blonde that was looking at her helplessly.

Toshiro felt cold, ice-clawed hands rest on her shoulders and kneed, trying to work out the tension she was feeling. “Calm yourself, Little One. You’re about to start a blizzard.”

She snorted and mumbled, “It’s always a blizzard in here, Hyorinmaru.”

“I did not mean in here. Your apartment is about to be filled with snow.”

She tried to relax her shoulders, breath away the sticky-hot sensation behind her eyes, but found that it just wouldn’t go away. She rubbed at an eye, hoping to stem the water from trickling down her face. Damn it, she was a third seat in the Tenth Division of Seireitei, the unofficial third in command of the division most known for their dedication and hard work. She was the ice prince of the Gotei 13 that was able to make Kuchki-taicho look approachable. She didn’t cry where others could see her! She didn’t show weakness!

Toshiro hardly noticed when she exited her soul scape, or when Naruto sighed and whispered, “Shiro.” She started when the blonde dragged her into a hug, but instead of trying to pull away she burrowed closer, shoving her face into his neck. She ignored how her shoulders were shaking, ignored that frozen tears were wetting the jumpsuit under her cheek. She ignored the rest of the world except the incredibly warm presence wrapped around her like a blanket.

It was the first time she ever found comfort in warmth.

Slowly, she slipped into unconsciousness, tears of gratitude still streaking down her face.

• • •

Naruto tucked Toshiro into the futon on the floor she had claimed, brushing away the frozen tears lingering on her skin. He was glad that she finally told him all that. He’d seen how something had been weighing her down, and now even in sleep she was looking much more relaxed, like a weight had been shifted from her shoulders. He wasn’t about to let her trust in him be misplaced.

He quietly left the room, keeping the door open, and nodded at the Toshiro clone cooking at the stove. He moved to the scroll they had liberated from the ANBU archives and unrolled it, unsealing two small scrolls from one of the storage seals. This was something he hadn’t told Toshiro about after he saw his name on the outside of the scrolls. Everything else had been books, and none of them personalized to him. He gently held the two scrolls, one yellow and the other red, and rolled the Uzumaki scroll closed once more.

Naruto sat down at the couch and set the red scroll aside for now. He unrolled the yellow one and read through the small note sketched in before the storage seal.

_Naruto,_

_If you’re reading this now, then something happened to me. I pray that your mother made it through and was able to watch you grow up, but if she didn’t… And if the Council kept your godfather from you… First, we both love you. Very much. Neither of us would have wanted you to live as an orphan. I know that such a life is not the best one, having lived it myself. Second, in the event that the Kyuubi broke free of your mother’s seal upon your birth, neither your mother or I wanted to use you in order to seal it away again. According to Kushina, the Kyuubi shouldn’t be hostile, just angry at being kept imprisoned for nearly a century. Apparently the Kyuubi’s also taken a liking to you, even before you’re born. If it was sealed away in you, I hope you’ve had a parental figure in Kyuubi, as odd and strange as that sounds._

_In the seal are a few scrolls detailing my signature jutsu’s and my personal taijutsu style. They’re yours by birthright, along with everything that remains of the Namikaze clan. It’s not enough to fill the void that my death must have caused, but hopefully it is enough to make sure you are taken care of._

_Your Father,_

_Namikaze Minato_

Naruto carefully wiped away the moisture that was prickling at the corners of his eyes and set the scroll down on the coffee table. He wouldn’t release the seal until he was done reading the other scroll left for him.

Once again, there was a note before a storage seal.

_My baby,_

_Your father and I wrote these in the event that something goes wrong when I go into labor. Hopefully, we both survived and have no need to keep these specific letters around, dattebane. If not, well, you’re reading this, so I guess something did go wrong._

_Oh baby boy, there’s no need for tears. You are already the light of your fathers and my life, don’t dampen it because we couldn’t stop Kyuubi from leaving the seal. Keep on shining, grow up into a proud, strong young man, and don’t let those Council idiots control your life. The life of a jinchuuriki is a difficult one, filled with many hardships. I was lucky in that only the high-ranking members of the village knew about my status. Something is telling me you won’t be so lucky._

_I left behind my research into seals and my Uzushiogakure headband. When you turn sixteen, you can claim the title of Uzukage if you wish, our home country was the only small village that held a Kage title. It was supposed to have passed down to my brother, but I’m the last of the Kage line left after Uzushio’s destruction. Like everything Minato is leaving you, this is your birthright._

_Naruto, my baby, my little maelstrom, I so wish I could tell you this in person, and kiss away those tears I warned you against._

_Keep your light strong._

_Your Mother,_

_Uzumaki Kushina_

• • •

In the still merged soul scape, Kurama looked up to the ceiling of her sewers and sighed at the leaking water coming from the pipes. “He found their letters,” she said mournfully, remembering and regretting the loss of life that was two humans that were some of the closest to gaining her respect.

Hyorinmaru hummed, staring off into the snowstorm that made up his master’s domain.

Kurama looked to the teal haired man, and made her decision. “I wish to become a zanpaktō,” she stated with finality.

He glanced her way. “You would be merging your being with his soul permanently. If he died, you would be reincarnated into his next form.”

“I don’t care,” she firmly stated. “If it allowed me to better protect him, then I’d willingly submit myself to the Sharingan’s blasted hold.”

Hyorinmaru stared at her, and sighed. “It shall take a long time.”

She nodded once. “I can wait. I’m good at that.” She turned around and sauntered back towards her cage. “You can tell me the process later, once our kits aren’t so upset.”

She could practically see Hyorinmaru’s nod before the merging ended, leaving her in her kit’s mind-sewer. Something needed to be done about this. It wasn’t healthy for a kit to be so depressed. Especially her kit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay yeah, so I was just writing and then this happened. Yes, Hyorinmaru refused to speak with me after I wrote this, and I am under threat of becoming an ice statue should I upset Toshiro like this again.
> 
> Tell me what you think! I have more where this came from!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The semi-unhealthy method of moving past the last chapter, Naruto's gender fluidity, and Ino agrees to a shopping trip. And it isn't Naruto if he doesn't prank someone.

Toshiro woke up to one of her clones shaking her awake, and a blonde octopus clinging to her side in his sleep. She blinked up into her clone’s calmly worried face. “You have an hour until you and Naruto-sama are required at the Academy, Toshiro-hime,” her clone said, free hand holding a steaming cup of her favorite tea. “Hyorinmaru-sama has informed me of Kyuubi-sama’s decision to begin the process of becoming Naruto-sama’s zanpaktō, and has suggested teaching him kenjutsu before she begins.” Toshiro used her free hand to rub the sleep from her eyes, a yawn nearly breaking her jaw.

“’Kay,” she mumbled, pushing herself into a semi-inclined position to take the tea from her clone. “I’ll speak with the mutt after class. Don’t worry ‘bout Naru, I’ll wake him up.”

“Hai, Toshiro-hime. Your lunches have been sealed away in their respective scrolls,” the clone said before dissipating into snowflakes.

Toshiro sighed, and sipped at her tea. Humming at the flavor and rush of memories, she let her body temperature drop considerably, shocking Naruto out of his sleep with a yelp. “Good morning,” she said calmly, sipping at her tea as he stared at her with hurt puppy eyes. “Those don’t work, you know they don’t, stop wasting the technique.”

“Mou, Toshiro-kun,” Naruto griped good naturedly, before he sobered and looked at her in hesitant worry. “Are you feeling okay?”

She hummed into her tea, staring into its murky depths. Was she feeling okay? She doubted he’d take the automatic ‘fine’, or the more accurate ‘I don’t know.’ She did know that she did feel better after her embarrassing moment of weakness, so she nodded. “I’m better,” she said, sipping her tea so she couldn’t say more. She used the teacup to gesture towards him. “What’s with the cuddling last night?”

Naruto flushed and sat up, scratching at his nose in a manner that she’d seen Iruka-sensei do. “Eh, I, ah, found something else in the Uzumaki scroll. My parents left a couple scrolls behind for me.”

Toshiro slowly nodded her head, guessing that he probably wound up balling as hard as she had. He wasn’t as hesitant in showing weakness as she was. “Understandable,” she said before another sip of tea. She paused, and then added, “We have an hour to get to the Academy.”

“Eep!” Naruto scrambled out of her bed, and rushed to his dresser. He paused, though, when he reached for his orange jumpsuit. He turned and asked, “Do you think I should…?”

She nodded and sat up, finishing her tea. “Keep the orange monstrosity for now, you’ve got a mask to uphold.” She ignored his grumbling in regards to her name for his favorite jumpsuit, and continued, “Besides, we still need to get you something else besides that for once you become genin. Maybe we can talk Ino into,” she shuddered, and bit out, “clothes shopping.”

“Um, while that is a good point, it wasn’t what I was going to ask…” Naruto said, suddenly looking anywhere but Toshiro. She raised an eyebrow, and let her blonde friend find the words he was looking for. “I, ah. You’ve heard about my, um, **Orioke no Jutsu** , right? I’m certain you have.”

“Your infamous technique that only works on those whose sex drive is geared towards the naked female form you use to weed out the perverts,” she deadpanned.

Naruto chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah, uh, that one. Well, that’s just the most commonly seen version. See…” He flashed through the hand seals and called out, “ **Henge!** ” In Naruto’s place was a female version of Naruto, the same age, wearing the same sleep clothes and having the same haircut as the male version. There was barely a difference between the two, and what difference there was could be hidden by the jumpsuit. Toshiro felt both her eyebrows jerk up towards her hairline. Oh. “Because of how long I’ve used my Orioke, I kinda sometimes feel more female than male, and this is one of those days. I was wondering if you think I should…”

“If you should come to school like that,” she finished for him/her. Naruto nodded his/her head, and looked down at the floor, a flush spreading across his/her cheeks. “You’ve done it before, what’s stopping you this time?”

He/she jerked his/her head up and stared at Toshiro. “Wait, you’re serious? You don’t care?”

Toshiro gave him/her a dry look. “I used my androgynous features to mislead others into the assumption of my gender that I wished them to have. I don’t act like a girl because I don’t know how to _be_ one. If you want to be a girl today, be a girl today. We’re wasting time we could be getting ready having this conversation.”

“Mou, but we both know the body flicker, it’s not really such a problem,” the blonde girl whined as she turned back to her dresser.

Toshiro shook her head and stood up. “I’ll get breakfast ready, you take first shower.”

Naruto nodded her head. “Hai!”

• • •

Ino blinked several times, staring at the two standing in front of her. Toshiro made sure to drag Ino behind a stand of trees, to ensure no one watched the conversation between her, Toshiro, and Naruto, whose features were looking softer than normal. Ino put that to the back of her mind and asked, “You want me to help you with clothes shopping?”

Naruto nodded his head vigorously. “Yeah, and don’t worry about losing status or anything, we’ll be under a henge the whole time if you agree.”

“Even if you don’t,” Toshiro drawled in her usual manner, crossing her arms over her flat chest. “I’m fairly certain you can agree that Naruto needs help. Unless you want to graduate with this blatant sign of ‘kill me, I’ve been sabotaged, either by my own doing or because I’m too big of a push-over to fight back.’”

“Mou, Toshiro-kun,” Naruto said, crossing his arms behind his head, pouting playfully.

Ino shook her head, filing the sabotaged comment away, and said, “No no, fair point. But still, it’s odd that you’d come to me for help.”

Toshiro shrugged, appearing for all intents and purposes indifferent. But Ino grew up around Shikamaru, even if she didn’t exactly like the times she had to stay with him and Chouji. She could read indifferent like the back of her hand. Toshiro was tense. Worried. “You’re the only girl we know that’s semi-friendly to us both. And you’re also the only one we know who knows clothes.” Toshiro blinked once, slow and lazy. “Of course we’d come to you for help.”

Ino considered for a moment about the fact that the only reason they know that Toshiro was a girl was because she wore a dress and her own admission. It was a fair enough point. “All right. You could use a feminine touch anyways, Toshiro-kun.” The white haired girl raised an eyebrow, and Ino quickly stated, “Clearly you’re used to being androgynous, and have the guy thing down. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but exploring both genders is a good idea. That way, if you’re stuck in a mission where you need to be more one way than the other, you’re not sticking out like a sore thumb. Maybe doing something with your hair?”

“No,” Toshiro swiftly and efficiently shut her down. “I don’t like people touching my hair.”

“Clothes? Make up? Ear piercings?”

Toshiro scrunched her face up, and jerked her head towards Naruto. “Only if she joins, too.”

Ino faltered. She was fairly certain that Naruto was a boy. Was she wrong? She analyzed his features. Yeah, they looked a little softer than normal, but they sometimes did that. It couldn’t be a henge, though, there’s no way someone their age had enough chakra to hold one for this long.

Naruto shot his hands out and said, “I’m a boy, honest! Most days.” He looked around, probably to make sure no one really was watching, and unzipped his jacket. The white shirt he wore underneath hid nothing, not the slightly developing breasts, or the beginnings of curves along his waist. “It’s a full physical transformation, the only chakra necessary is during the initial transformation. This is, essentially, the version of my Orioke that isn’t geared towards weeding out the perverts.”

Ino deadpanned at Naruto, who zipped up his—no, she guessed Naruto was a her at the moment—her jacket once more. Resisting the urge to drop her head into her palm, she said, “Okay. I’ll help you guys. Just…” She hesitated for a moment before asking, “What did you mean by her clothes being sabotage?”

Toshiro and Naruto shared a look that seemed to hold an entire conversation. Finally, Toshiro said, “I’m not certain what we’d be allowed to tell you. Take from it what you wish.”

Ino narrowed her eyes, and resolved to ask her father about this.

“Well, it’s not going to be today, or probably for the rest of the week. I’ve got shifts as the flower shop to fill,” Ino said. “But definitely before graduation. I don’t want to suffer that for longer than I have to.”

“Great!” Naruto cried out, pumping her fist.

“We shall inform Naruto-sama and Toshiro-hime of your acceptance, Ino-san,” Toshiro said, causing Ino to blink in confusion.

“Huh?”

A puff of smoke and swirl of snowflakes later, and Ino was staring into empty space, realizing that she had been talking to clones the entire time. A small explosion came from the teacher’s lounge, and she could clearly hear Iruka’s rage-filled scream from the stand of trees. “NARUTO!” She stepped out of the stand just in time to watch as glitter drifted in the air through the open window of the lounge, and a sparkling-orange Iruka chasing after a laughing blonde. Ino looked around the clearing, and found a head of white hair sitting with Shikamaru and Chouji, shaking her head with a rueful smile on her face.

Konoha’s Prank King struck again, it seemed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This. Is the only reason I survived the last chapter. My Hyorinmaru plushie was rather serious about that threat of his.
> 
> And we're close to the end of Part One, folks! Just one more chapter and we'll wrap it up until Part Two is under way!
> 
> Tell me what you think! I have more where this came from!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sneaky Toshiro's who are invested in situations are sneaky. And causes her superiors massive headaches that they have to work around. So, pretty much a normal day in Konoha.

•Two Weeks Later•

Toshiro had successfully managed to blend in with the rest of Konohagakure faster than she expected. Probably more because she was Kakashi’s apprentice, instead of the fact that she was the only other inhabitant and leaser of an apartment in the same building as the “demon brat,” and was incredibly friendly with him. But it was still better than she expected. Then again, she had been thinking that by this point, she’d be hiding away in a hut in the middle of nowhere, trying to lay low. Instead, she had to take the Hokage’s offer, and wound up getting invested in this village.

Which was probably why she had requested this meeting.

She stood in the Hokage’s office, facing the desk she had landed in front of a month ago that was flanked by three other figures: The ANBU Commander, Ookami, the jounin commander, Shikaku, and her mentor, Kakashi. Directly behind the desk was the Hokage himself, who was rubbing at both of his temples and seemed to be trying to glare holes into her. No one else was in the office with them, the entire ANBU squad sent away for the duration of the conversation. These three were entirely loyal only to the Hokage, and thus were safe to speak in front of.

The Hokage spoke up at that point. “What did you wish to speak of that would undoubtedly give me gray hairs if I weren’t bald, Hitsugaya-kun?”

Eh. It was a step up from Hitsugaya-san. She’d take that as him starting to like her.

Toshiro bowed respectfully, and simply said, “You have so many knots of corruption that they’re starting to fuse together, Hokage-sama. You need me.”

“Obvious statements are highly unlike you, Hitsugaya-kun. How, pray tell, do I need you?”

“I am an outsider, a child in their eyes,” she said, staring levelly into the Hokage’s eyes. “They will underestimate my capabilities. Just from the initial examination I have been able to perform over the past month within the village, you have not only the Council tying you up in knots, but an Elder with his own ‘disbanded’ personal army who wants to take your seat from you and two other who are more than willing to assist him in this. On top of that, of your students, one is the most dangerous S-rank missing nin dead set on becoming immortal, one is a drunken, cheating gambler who swore to never return, and the last hasn’t been in village for twelve years thanks to his duty as a spymaster and because he was ordered from being anywhere near his godson. And as I’m sure Kakashi-sensei has already informed you, I was third in command of a division solely dedicated to internal affairs and investigations. Sorting out corruption is my job, and something I excel at.”

“Toshiro-kun, are you certain?” Shikaku asked, a considering look in his eyes all the same.

She bowed her head. “Consider the fact I’ve waited a month a show of restraint. Your village is worse than Central 46, and we were constantly investigating any number of them as a matter of course.”

“I cannot allow you to act on any investigations you perform,” the Hokage gritted out through his teeth. “However, I will give you permission to perform investigations only, as long as they do not delve into Clan business or secrets.”

“Of course, Hokage-sama,” Toshiro conceded. That was probably the best she could ask for. “Is there anywhere in specific you’d wish for me to investigate, or shall I give suggestions?”

Ookami spoke up, his voice deep and even. “Where would you begin, if you wouldn’t mind, Hitsugaya-san?”

Toshiro nodded her head. “The Academy, if I’m starting at the lowest level. Teachers are willingly and purposefully sabotaging students, and that is not just bias due to my close friendship with the village jinchuuriki, despite him being a major target towards said sabotage. I’ve also reason to believe that the curriculum has been changed to allow more students that excel in theory graduate instead of those who can apply the theory into practice, but that is more minor and requires solid evidence instead of observations and opinions.” She shifted her stance to one she used when addressing Shiba-taicho with information or updates, clasping her hands behind her back with her feet shoulder width apart and chin up. “After the Academy, I’d investigate the lower-issue Civilian Councilors, specifically for any evidence of giving or accepting bribes, or otherwise allowing corruption to fester in the day-to-day affairs of the village. Potentially, I’d also look into whether or not the shopkeepers are charging more in taxes that what the village allows. After that, if things have played out well without drawing the attention of the bigger sharks, I would begin to quietly assemble information and evidence in order to take them down as well, should Hokage-sama be required to do so, or if they become a threat to the village.” She glanced to the Hokage, who had a considering, and slightly mulish, expression on his face. “Would this approach be acceptable, Hokage-sama?”

She received a glare that should have put her six feet under again. The Hokage sighed and removed his hat, rubbing at the top of his bald head. “I suppose it will have to do. However remember: you are only permitted to investigate.”

Toshiro bowed, lowering her head to expose the back of her neck. “Of course, Hokage-sama. In that case, may I have all of the student and teacher files for the current graduating class?”

The old man sighed and reached into his desk, pulling out a large stack of files that reminded Toshiro of Matsumoto’s paperwork. “Naruto is not allowed to read these,” the Hokage warned her even as he passed the stack over to her.

She raised an eyebrow. “That would be another reason I waited until now, Hokage-sama. Since creating documentation for me and finding someone willing to rent an apartment to a ten year old who is friends with the jinchuuriki took so long, I held back on requesting this assignment.” She shifted the slightly heavy stack in her arms so she could more easily look at the Hokage. “Also, may I request that the ownership of the building be transferred over to Naruto? Since the only occupants of the entire building are the two of us, it makes the most sense.”

“I shall look into it,” the Hokage sighed.

“Thank you, Hokage-sama,” Toshiro said, bowing her head respectfully since she could not properly bow. She turned to Kakashi, who had been reading that blasted book the entire time, and asked, “Coming, Mutt-sensei?”

“Maa, Toshiro-kun. Done already?” he drawled, stepping forward while not taking his eye off the pages. She felt a twitch forming in her eye.

“I swear, I will steal all of your copies of that horrid book series, freeze them under a glacier, and watch as you try to pick your way to them,” she softly snarled out.

Kakashi finally looked up from the pages with a horrified look on his face. He snapped the book shut and cradled it to his shoulder. “You would dare threaten great literature?”

“Great literature? No. That book series does not qualify as ‘great literature,’ though, so yes. I would dare.”

She got the vague sense of amusement and horror coming from the Hokage, and generous doses of the former from the two commanders remaining behind. Toshiro turned to Shikaku before she left and asked, “Are we still on for a game this weekend?”

“Shogi, or would you rather try your hand at attempting to beat me in Go?” he responded.

Toshiro smirked. “I think I’ll try and accomplish that in Shogi before moving on to Go. It wasn’t a favorite of mine.”

“Then we’re still on,” he confirmed, nodding his head. “Shall we try to remember to eat without Yoshino-chan needing to use her water whip?”

“That would probably be a good idea. I could freeze it solid, but it would remain in her control and something tells me that would just hurt worse,” Toshiro said, smiling slightly at the horrified shudder slipped through Shikaku’s façade.

• • •

Iruka blinked as Toshiro entered his office, an official looking file in hand. Since he was only technically her teacher, she before had never approached him unless it was a question regarding what texts she should get to help Naruto better understand the theory he’s so sorely lacked in. Thus it was with great confusion that he stared when she simply sat in the chair on the opposite side of his desk and asked, “What is your professional teachers opinion of one Hyuuga Hanabi?”

He stood to access the correct filing cabinet on instinct, and asked, “What brought this on?”

“A curiosity, and permission to investigate the Academy currently. If I were given leave to act, you would most likely be the only one to come out relatively unscathed, and not because you’re Naruto’s big brother,” Toshiro said blandly, bringing a wince from Iruka. Damn. He’d been warned about that, since he knew the truth about the pseudo-death god, but didn’t expect the Academy to be that bad off. “I should warn you, though, Mizuki-sensei is going to be in T&I for the near future. There were inconsistencies in his personnel file, and he seemed to have more money than someone with his salary and background should. I would expect a new teacher’s assistant if I were you,” she then warned, causing Iruka to lose what color he naturally had.

“I thought you couldn’t act,” he weakly protested, staring at the white haired girl over his shoulder.

She shrugged. “I couldn’t, but Shikaku-san was reading over my shoulder when I found the inconsistencies. He brought it to Hokage-sama, who ordered Mizuki-sensei to be brought in.”

Iruka shook his head, and prayed that his friend wasn’t a traitor, like what Toshiro was suggesting. He put the matter to the back of his mind as he found the correct file. He pulled the file out of the cabinet and walked back to his desk. “Well, let’s see here. Hyuuga Hanabi…” He flipped open her file and leafed through, one eyebrow raising in incredulity. “She is… proud, egotistical, has enough arrogance to rival Sasuke-san, a temper to rival her cousin Neji’s, and a willingness to act out on that temper. She has a number of offences listed in her file, but it appears that she only received light punishments, even for the most severe.” Iruka glanced up, and did not like the frown brewing on the physically young girl’s face. “May I ask what your curiosity is?” he probed.

Toshiro’s eyes went from emerald to flinty jade, and she passed over the file she came in with. “Compare the psych evals between sisters. I’m hoping that Hanabi did not begin to get worse around the same time that Hinata became more submissive and depressed, but I’m more realistic than that.”

Iruka flipped open the file he now knew belonged to his student, and started reading through her psych eval, glancing to Hanabi’s every now and then. He blanched and gulped, seeing exactly what Toshiro had mentioned. “It appears you had a right to be realistic,” he said faintly, closing the files and sitting back in his chair. He heard a faint tisk from Toshiro, and when he looked, she was rubbing the bridge of her nose with a scowl on her face. “What can we do?”

“Other than try to bolster Hinata’s confidence before graduation? Nothing. Because this stinks of Clan business, and I’m not allowed to touch that, even if they are sabotaging one of their own,” Toshiro snarled, looking every bit the dragon Iruka knew was lurking under her skin.

“But Hinata is the heiress. That’s why she was placed in my class,” Iruka said, his eyebrows creasing together. “Why would they sabotage her?”

“Why is Hanabi acting like the pampered heiress who gets everything she wants instead?” Toshiro fired back, her jade eyes blazing as the room started to chill. “Because someone high up in the clan decided that there was a better choice for the heir than a girl who is almost too kind for her own good, and would probably bring positive change to a clan full of arrogant shits.” She took a deep breath as Iruka stared at her in shock. He knew she had a temper, but since he wasn’t there for the incident with Sakura when the pink haired girl insulted his little brother—he had to hear about that from a second-hand account from said little brother—he didn’t know the full extent of it. He’d figured that Anko had been exaggerating when she said they were still thawing the interrogation room out when he first learned of all of this. Finally, the room returned to a normal temperature, and in a tight, controlled voice, Toshiro requested, “If you wouldn’t mind, make sure to see what happens if Hanabi receives the correct punishment for her actions. From both her, and her family.”

Iruka stared, and sighed dramatically. “Certainly, though when I disappear you’ll know what happened.”

Toshiro snorted. “Not on the major offenses, just minor to moderate bullying will suffice. Something that shouldn’t warrant too big of a punishment, and thus too big of a reaction, but make sure she receives the proper punishment for her actions. If the reaction you receive is in line with what normally occurs, then there isn’t a problem. If it’s larger, then we definitely have a problem.” She scowled again. “Even if it would look like circumstantial evidence in a court of law.”

“Let me guess,” he drawled rubbing at a temple, “that’s all you have at the moment if you want to charge them with intentionally weakening the village’s defenses, isn’t it?”

“See, now this is why you’d make it out of the inquisition I’d unleash unscathed. You have a sharp, sensible, and most importantly _working_ head on your shoulders.” Iruka flushed at the praise as Toshiro stood up and pulled out a piece of paper. “Oh, and Naruto wanted me to invite you to dinner at Ichiraiku Ramen. He wrote you a note and everything,” she said, holding out the note.

Iruka was always more terrified whenever someone went from capable shinobi to caring and considerate at the drop of a hat. It showed just how good at compartmentalizing on the fly they were. He took the note from her, and smiled down at his brother’s slightly less messy scrawl. “I don’t have plans tonight. What’s the occasion?”

Toshiro rolled her eyes. “Naruto finally made a taijutsu form that doesn’t look like a sabotaged drunken brawler? Mutt-sensei can maybe last ten minutes when he’s holding back to mid chuunin level against Naruto in a taijutsu-only spar, and my supplementary instructor, Gai-sensei, has been begging to see the scrolls that Naruto actually wrote the form down in. And he finally got his first kenjutsu form down, and can hold out for a minute in a spar against me when using his sword.”

Iruka shook his head and chuckled. “I’ll be there,” he promised, mentally swearing to never piss her off.

• • •

Yamamoto stared down the investigator from the Royal Family and withheld his sigh. At least Toshiro was somewhere that the Soul King would have to wage war to access her. He thanked the private message from Urahara after she had left regarding where she went and the lengths necessary to attempt to gain access to her again, and also thanked the fact that once he finished reading the message it self-destructed, leaving no trace it had ever been there except his own mind. He didn’t even flinch as the investigator began grilling him for questions on the young Shinigami who had fled her post.

In the World of the Living, a certain blonde exiled Shinigami stared at his friend. “You want me to build another one of those Senkaimon?” Urahara asked, waving a hand incredulously to his side. “Are you mad?!”

“No, but you are,” Urahara’s long-time friend and fellow stranded Shinigami, Shiba Isshin, said, completely serious for once. “The investigators are in Seireitei, and they may go after Matsumoto just because she was fully aware her subordinate was a female who had a dragon zanpaktō. We need to be able to get her safely away from danger at a moments notice.” Urahara almost said no, but the completely worried and _begging_ expression on his friend’s face made him pause. “Please, I’ll let you close to any of mine and Masaki’s kids, train them even if you can get her to agree. I’m just asking for this one thing.”

Well. Urahara was fairly certain that none of these circumstances were in Aizen’s plans. He’d agree, if only because this gave him a chance for Isshin and Masaki’s first born to have a better chance at defeating Aizen when the time comes. From the look on his friend’s face, Isshin seemed to know exactly why Urahara was agreeing so easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap of Part One: A New Home! Thank you all for reading and for your wonderful comments!
> 
> Part Two: Team Building and Other Impossibilities is about two thirds of the way completed at the moment. Keep an eye out for it if you wish to see how Team 7 changes with Toshiro added to the mix! (Part Two will only encompass the time between team assignments and the unseen month before the Wave Mission. The Wave Mission itself will be its own part.)
> 
> Tell me what you think, please! Comments are the manna I sustain off of, alongside caffeine!

**Author's Note:**

> So, if anyone's noticed similarities in situation with a fanfiction called "Transition Period" on ff.net (which I would entirely recommend, btw, it's a really good portrayal of a transgender character and the difficulties they face), that's where the inspiration for this badboy came from. That, and being hip-deep in Naruto when said inspiration hit.
> 
> Tell me what you guys think! I've got plenty more where this comes from!


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